On November 29, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York announced and launched its New York Innovation Center (NYIC) to be headed by Per von Zelowitz, for the purpose of developing financial technology products and services for the central bank community.

It will be located within the New York Fed’s offices at 33 Liberty Street and is a strategic partnership with the Bank of International Settlements (BIS), whose Innovation Hub seeks to improve the future of central banking and the financial system by tracking trends in financial technology relevant to central banks and utilizing them to improve areas such as regulatory and supervisory technological practices and the monitoring of fast paced markets. The center will also work together with public and private sector experts.

Such an effort is deemed to be needed because as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said in relation to the launch, “big data will revolutionize the financial sector,” and new infrastructures and habits are being formed, which is one of the focal points of the Mastercard innovation institute under Raj Seshadri. The center will also seek to engage the decentralized finance community.

The center’s interest is in how these areas intersect with central banking and ultimately, in enhancing the functioning and efficiency of the global financial system, according to its site.

It will utilize a team-based venture development process, leverage best practices, research and subject matter expertise and develop products focused on the following areas:

• Supervisory and Regulatory technology
• Financial Market Infrastructures
• Future of Money
• Open Finance
• Climate risk

Before being named to lead the center in July, Per von Zelowitz previously served as Financial Services Director of Banking Transformation at PriceWaterhouseCoopers and as the Senior Entrepreneur in Residence & Founding Member of D10X at Citi Ventures.

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