< Fintech's Most Powerful Dealmakers of 2016

Backed by leading Hong Kong tycoons, including Li Ka-shing, AMTD Group has become a force in the capital markets advisory business, leading recent H-share offerings of Everbright Securities Co. ($1.1 billion), Bank of Tianjin Co. ($950 million), and Bank of Qingdao Co. ($640 million), among other transactions. Calvin Choi, a former UBS and Citigroup investment banker who became AMTD chairman in February, is opening up an investment channel in a sector he defines as “Greater China fintech opportunities” — and he has a whopping $1 billion to deploy. “We expect to see accelerated growth in fintech investing following the increased scrutiny by regulators and attention from institutional players regionally,” says Choi, 38, who was previously a managing director at UBS Investment Bank, a member of that bank’s global family office committee in Hong Kong, and head of Citi’s China strategic alliance unit. AMTD and related stakeholders own 10 percent of Shanghai-based peer-to-peer lender Dianrong, which Choi says is within two years of an IPO. He notes that Chinese P2P company Yirendai has already gone public. Yet another, Lufax, is expected to follow next year, and Choi anticipates “gradual consolidations and mergers” will follow over time. “Expect more global fintech players to establish partnerships with local players and alliances with institutions regionally to expand beyond their local markets,” he says. Conversely, he predicts Greater China investors will move into North American markets, following a trail blazed by Singapore’s Shanda Group, headed by Chinese gaming magnate Chen Tianqiao; Shanda bought 11.7 percent of then-troubled Lending Club in May and raised its stake to 15.1 percent in June.

 
The 2016 Fintech Finance 35

1. Jonathan Korngold General Atlantic 2. Matthew Harris Bain Capital Ventures 3. Jane Gladstone Evercore Partners Solana vs. Bitcoin vs. Ethereum: How Do They Compare? Sponsored by CME Group April 28, 2025 4. James Robinson III & James Robinson IV RRE Ventures 5. Steven McLaughlin Financial Technology Partners 6. Amy Nauiokas & Sean Park Anthemis Group

7. Richard Garman & Brad Bernstein FTV Capital 8. Gerard von Dohlen Broadhaven Capital Partners 9. Darren Cohen Goldman Sachs Group 10. Hans Morris Nyca Partners 11. Meyer (Micky) Malka Ribbit Capital 12. Maria Gotsch Partnership Fund for New York City

13. Barry Silbert Digital Currency Group 14. Jay Reinemann Propel Venture Partners 15. Mariano Belinky Santander InnoVentures 16. Justin Brownhill & Neil DeSena SenaHill Partners 17. François Robinet AXA Strategic Ventures 18. Vanessa Colella Citi Ventures

19. Michael Schlein Accion International 20. Kenneth Marlin Marlin & Associates 21. Rumi Morales CME Ventures 22. Alastair (Alex) Rampell Andreessen Horowitz 23. Steve Gibson Euclid Opportunities 24. Fabian Vandenreydt SWIFT

25. Vladislav Solodkiy Life.SREDA 26. Gardiner Garrard III TTV Capital 27. Nektarios Liolios Startupbootcamp Fintech 28. Lawrence Wintermeyer Innovate Finance 29. Bina Kalola Bank of America Merrill Lynch 30. Hyder Jaffrey Fintech Innovation

31. Calvin Choi AMTD Group 32. Janos Barberis FinTech Hong Kong 33. Jalak Jobanputra Future Perfect Ventures 34. Sopnendu Mohanty Monetary Authority of Singapore 35. Oskar Mielczarek de la Miel Rakuten FinTech Fund