CEO Today UK Awards 2021

Firstly, my thanks to everyone who had a part to play in this award. I’m extremely grateful – although it should be our incredible 9,000 employees across the globe who receive this! Every day, they are a source of inspiration, particularly over this extremely challenging last year. I’m sure I won’t be the only business leader to say that 2020 was one of the most difficult times we’ve all had to face. Not just in the reconfiguration of physical to digital and moving 95% of our people to the safety of their homes in days, but also in ensuring the continued wellbeing of each other, our customers, our partners and our business. So, it gives me enormous pride to look back and see that we didn’t just react, but actively pushed the needle; with new customers and solutions, new apps brought to market through our store, a new Customer Office, the launch of our data platform, new and significant partnerships…the list goes on. For me, however, if I had to choose just a single theme as a highlight, it would be seeing how our investment in technology supported ‘doing well by doing good’; for example, how we could design and build a service to deliver the US’s small business administration loans within two weeks, or how we helped around a million people receive pay cheques as the pandemic hit, or how our customers could use our technology to reach the unbanked more broadly or more quickly, or how we continued to push the conversation forward on inclusive, fair, open and sustainable Trade. Now, as the financial services industry braces for the economic fallout of the pandemic – loan losses, rebuilding liquidity, finding new sources of revenue, and relevance – in the face of declining margins and more, it is clear that technology that will play an increasingly significant role in helping financial services evolve their business. Something we call “redefining finance for good”. Not only that, but technologywill also propel the financial services industry into a newworld built around customer-centric business models, such as the bank’s role in embedding its financial solutions and services into non-bank propositions. Technology has been a buffer against the harshest of economic shocks and will help banks and institutions navigate to a more stable, collaborative future. Collaboration is the critical word here; at Finastra we truly believe that the future of finance is open; open technology, open ecosystems, open API-enabled innovation and open mindsets: {Open by Default}. With collaboration as the new innovation, we can help rebuild the world of financial services for the better – to create a fairer and more equitable future for those hit the hardest by the pandemic. It’s only through collaboration that we can hope to close the SME funding gap, eradicate bias from financial algorithms and create financial inclusion and literacy efforts that are both sustainable and impactful. So, for me, 2021 is very much about redefining finance for good - building back better, in a way that enables our customers to stay relevant and resilient whilst creating better outcomes for the world. Whether it’s through making financial services more accessible and affordable, making credit decisioning fairer and more transparent, or seeking new and ethical business practices that fulfil the growing need for green finance, I am confident that Finastra will, again, not just react, but keep pushing the needle. About Simon Paris Simon Paris is Chief Executive Officer of Finastra, the largest pure-play software vendor that serves the entire financial service industry. Finastra is well known around the world for providing software applications and marketplaces, and for launching the industry’s first open platform – FusionFabric.cloud that provides access, through APIs, to a rich ecosystem of third party fintechs, consultants, developers and partners, and allows customers to develop and innovate at speed. www.finastra.com 1 27 CEO TODAY UNITED KINGDOM AWARDS 2021 Technology