We are honored to welcome Professor Douglas W. Arner as a distinguished member of the DTS Advisory Board, whose global authority in fintech, regtech and suptech will greatly accelerate our strategic vision and enhance our research capabilities.

Credentials & Global Impact

• Kerry Holdings Professor in Law at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), serving as RGC Senior Fellow and Associate Dean (Taught Postgraduate) at HKU’s Faculty of Law.
• Co‑founder and Faculty Director of key postgraduate programs at HKU: LLM in Compliance and Regulation, LLM in Corporate & Financial Law, LITE (Law, Innovation, Technology & Entrepreneurship), and EAIEL (East Asian International Economic Law & Policy).
• Associate Director of the Standard Chartered Foundation–HKU FinTech Academy, a Senior Visiting Fellow at Melbourne Law School, a non‑executive director of Aptorum Group (NASDAQ and Euronext–listed), and Advisory Board member of the Centre for Finance, Technology & Entrepreneurship (CFTE).
• Co‑founder and former Director of the Asian Institute of International Financial Law (AIIFL) at HKU; AIIFL has played a foundational role as a premier FinTech and RegTech academic hub in Asia.
• Leader of flagship research initiatives, including a five‑year RGC Senior Research Fellowship project on FinTech and RegTech’s role in financial inclusion and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and multiple TRS-funded efforts in FinTech policy and digital finance.
• Developer of one of the world’s largest Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC)—Introduction to FinTech on edX—launched in May 2018 and now reaching tens of thousands of learners across the globe.
• Author, co‑author, or editor of 15–18 seminal books—such as The RegTech Book (Wiley 2019), Reconceptualising Global Finance and its Regulation (Cambridge 2016)—and over 150 high‑impact articles, making him one of the most widely downloaded authors on SSRN.
• Held visiting appointments at prestigious institutions—including Duke, Harvard, McGill, NUS, UNSW, and others—and has served as a consultant to multilateral bodies including the World Bank, ADB, UN, APEC, AFI, and EBRD.
• Served as Head of the HKU Department of Law (2011–2014), Co‑Director of the Duke–HKU Asia–America Institute in Transnational Law (2005–2016), and was an inaugural member of the Hong Kong Financial Services Development Council (2013–2019) .

Strategic Value to DTS

With this appointment, Professor Arner brings:

• Deep expertise at the convergence of law, finance, technology, and innovation, equipping DTS to anticipate ecosystem trends and regulatory shifts.
• Thought leadership, global networks, and pedagogical insight to support strategic governance, future‑ready design systems, and cross‑sector collaboration.

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Professor Arner’s appointment strengthens DTS’s ability to operate at the intersection of academic research, regulatory transformation, and digital innovation. His guidance will help us deepen our strategic thinking, scale our impact across jurisdictions, and design more effective supervisory frameworks, inclusive digital services, and adaptive regulatory infrastructures for the public sector.

— DTS Executive Team