FinTech Australia appoints Nick Kavass as its first Policy Lead

FinTech Australia has appointed former federal government adviser Nick Kavass as its first Policy Lead.

Kavass brings nearly a decade of experience across government agencies including The Commonwealth Treasury and ASIC to the role. He most recently served as a policy adviser for former Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Housing Michael Sukkar.

The new role will coordinate with policy partners and members to help formulate and progress FinTech Australia’s policy agenda. This includes: payments policy, the ongoing rollout of the CDR, regulation of Buy Now Pay Later companies, regulation of crypto assets and government support for the fintech community during turbulence in the venture capital market.

FinTech Australia General Manager Rehan D’Almedia said it was a key appointment for the organisation.

“With a new government in power, we’re looking to step up the rigour of our policy support for our members and build on the extensive groundwork that the organisation has laid over the past few years,” he said.

“Nick’s experience at two key agencies that interact with the ecosystem — Treasury and ASIC — make him invaluable in helping us articulate our policy agenda.”

Kavass said he’d interacted with FinTech Australia on policy matters for several years and seen how its lobbying efforts shaped the government’s stance on major regulatory issues.

“I look forward to working with Rehan and the broader fintech community to navigate what is shaping up to be a complex framework of policies for the sector,” he said.

“I suspect I’ll be meeting many of our members at Intersekt in September, which will set the policy agenda for our work over the next 12 months.”

Kavass’ appointment comes as tickets for FinTech Australia’s annual conference Intersekt, went on sale two months ahead of the event, which is expected to once again sell out.

The event will contain over 40 panels, featuring speakers from Treasury, ASIC, Mastercard, Visa, Reinventure, X15, Austrade, Worldline, Trade Ledger, Frollo, Basiq, Envestnet Yodlee, FrankieOne, Shaype, Monoova, Novatti, Experian and many more.

Intersekt will be held at the Grand Hyatt Melbourne on September 7-8. Early bird tickets can be purchased on the Intersekt website.