2015年Fintech Finance 35：亚历克斯Batlin，UBS

1998年的布里斯托尔大学计算机科学毕业，Alex Batlin对先进技术没有陌生人。在学校，他尝试了神经网络和声音检测系统，用于定位战斗机。作为瑞银的高级创新经理，在伦敦的第39级加速场地运行银行的金融气创新实验室，这位38岁的孩子正在超越最近被认为是前沿的东西。“我所做的很多东西都很清楚，无论是向银行业引入移动性还是大数据，”他说。“你知道奖品的艰巨规模。”现在这个主题是区块链：“我们不是在证明这个概念。我们在这个阶段定义了这个概念。如果我们的假设是正确的，那么区块链可能非常重要，并且可能对我们的银行和金融方式产生广泛的影响。“Determined to prove that, Zurich-based UBS in February funded Batlin’s Crypto 2.0 Pathfinder program, which grew out of an innovation initiative launched four years ago, with teams in Switzerland, the U.K. and U.S. looking into emerging technologies, start-ups and their potential impact on the bank. A companywide innovation board, set up two years ago by chief information officer Oliver Bussmann to invite proposals from senior business and information technology executives, green-lighted Batlin’s idea to create a blockchain center of excellence. Batlin, who worked earlier in his career at J.P. Morgan & Co. and Nomura International and joined predecessor bank UBS Warburg in 2001, says the lab has demonstrated how a bond can be issued, and aspects of the transaction automated, using blockchain and a virtual currency. UBS has joined Barclays, Credit Suisse and other top banks in backing New York–based blockchain consortium R3CEV. It also put up $300,000 in prize money for a Future of Finance Challenge, a single-bank version of entrepreneur competitions like the New York FinTech Innovation Lab (see玛丽亚gotsch，第11号）。