SINGAPORE, April 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The Accountable Fintech Institute (RFI) has appointed Distinguished Professor Patrick H. M. Loh and Professor Tek Yew Chia as Government Fellows, strengthening its management workforce as international monetary methods speed up in the direction of larger integration between conventional finance, digital belongings, and rising applied sciences.
The appointments come at a important juncture for the monetary trade, as establishments, regulators, and expertise gamers navigate rising complexity throughout digital asset governance, synthetic intelligence, and cross-border interoperability. Whereas stablecoin networks course of trillions in transaction quantity yearly, McKinsey[1] estimates that solely round US$390 billion displays actual fee exercise, underscoring the hole between technological functionality and real-world adoption, and reinforcing the necessity for coordinated, principles-based frameworks.
As Government Fellows, Distinguished Professor Loh and Professor Chia will drive international coverage alignment, strengthen strategic institutional partnerships, and lead thought management and engagement with regulators and trade leaders to assist the event of interoperable and accountable monetary ecosystems.
Welcoming the appointments, Chia Hock Lai, Chairman of RFI, mentioned, “We’re happy to welcome Distinguished Professor Patrick H. M. Loh and Professor Tek Yew Chia at a time of serious structural change within the monetary ecosystem. Because the traces between conventional and digital finance proceed to blur, there’s an rising want for trusted management to information coverage improvement and institutional collaboration. Their mixed expertise throughout governance, technique, and expertise domains will strengthen RFI’s position in supporting extra resilient monetary methods.”
Professor Tek Yew Chia brings over 30 years of expertise throughout monetary companies, digital transformation, and regulatory technique in Asia and the Center East. He’s at present Adjunct Professor and Advisor on the Nationwide College of Singapore’s Asian Institute of Digital Finance (NUS-AIDF), based by the Financial Authority of Singapore, the Nationwide Analysis Basis, and NUS, the place he contributes to advancing analysis and innovation in digital finance. He’s additionally a senior advisor to the Boston Consulting Group and advises the World FinTech Community (GFTN) and the ASEAN Bankers Affiliation.
Beforehand, Professor Chia was Vice Chairman of Oliver Wyman Singapore, the place he led the agency’s Asia-Pacific insurance coverage observe. His earlier profession consists of senior roles at KPMG, PwC Consulting, and Hewlett-Packard, spanning technique, threat, and expertise transformation.
Commenting on his appointment, Professor Tek Yew Chia mentioned, “As monetary methods turn into extra digitised and interconnected, pushed by the transition towards a world ‘Finternet’, the broader institutional adoption of Net 3.0, and the speedy deployment of synthetic intelligence, the problem is now not innovation alone, however making certain it’s anchored in sound governance and credible frameworks. I sit up for working with RFI and its companions to assist coverage improvement in areas reminiscent of AI governance and digital belongings, and to contribute to a safer and inclusive monetary ecosystem.”
Distinguished Professor Patrick H. M. Loh joins RFI with an in depth and distinguished background spanning scientific innovation, institutional governance, and cross-disciplinary management. In November 2024, he was conferred the inaugural Singapore Distinguished Professor title by Murdoch College, Australia, in recognition of his contributions to plant sciences and associated disciplines, together with bio-innovation, entrepreneurship, analysis and improvement, and trade collaboration.
He at present serves as Senior Fellow on the Centre for Governance and Sustainability at NUS Enterprise Faculty and holds a number of advisory roles throughout academia and trade. He’s additionally Chairman of the Advisory Board at Murdoch College in Singapore and an Honorary Founding Member of the School of Enterprise at Murdoch Enterprise Faculty.
In recognition of his distinguished management and repair to the group, Professor Loh was conferred the Bintang Bakti Masyarakat (BBM – The Public Service Star) in 2006 and the Pingat Bakti Masyarakat (PBM – The Public Service Medal) in 2001 by His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Singapore.
Sharing his perspective, Distinguished Professor Patrick H. M. Loh mentioned, “As digital finance continues to advance, there’s a rising must steadiness technological progress with robust governance and moral management. RFI performs an necessary position in bringing collectively stakeholders to deal with these challenges, and I sit up for contributing to the event of frameworks that assist sustainable and accountable innovation.”
Each leaders will contribute to strategic initiatives throughout thought management, coverage engagement, and international stakeholder collaboration, together with supporting the event of trade frameworks, participating with regulators and standard-setting our bodies, and mentoring senior executives throughout the monetary ecosystem.
The RFI Government Fellowship is designed for senior leaders with no less than 20 years of expertise in government management and a demonstrated monitor document in shaping monetary coverage or institutional technique. Fellows are anticipated to function with institutional neutrality whereas contributing to globally aligned and accountable monetary methods.
In regards to the Accountable Fintech Institute (RFI)
The Accountable Fintech Institute (RFI) is a world nonprofit organisation based mostly in Singapore. Our objective is to create a secure, reliable, and dependable future for digital finance by constructing the digital utilities to assist accountable innovation. Our work entails bringing collectively completely different private and non-private sector stakeholders to assist construct the mandatory guidelines and expertise for brand spanking new digital monetary instruments, making the digital asset world sustainable and inclusive for everybody.
[1] Stablecoins in funds: What the uncooked transaction numbers miss, McKinsey & Firm, Feb 18 2026
