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Ranked among the top three mid-sized European cities of the future for economic potential, Belfast has a growing reputation as a financial services centre, supported by close links with London and Dublin.
The financial services centre of Northern Ireland, Belfast is home to thriving fintechs. Belfast featured nine companies in the Deloitte Tech Fast 50 list in 2022. For the first time, Belfast-based fintech company Lightyear was named, which is the highest ranking Northern Ireland business.
Belfast attracted £448m in foreign direct investment in financial and professional services between 2019-23
It hosts global financial services institutions including Citi, CME Group, Visa, Vela and TP ICAP and fast-growing, domestic entrepreneurs such as First Derivatives, Datactics and FSCOM. PwC has also recently opened its new landmark Merchant Square office in Belfast – its biggest UK regional office outside of London, accommodating up to 3,000 people.
The region is leading the way in providing a wide range of international financial services solutions including fund administration, investment operations, regulatory compliance and risk management, in support of the global capital markets, asset management and banking industries.
Northern Ireland has exceptionally strong credentials in financial services technology and is a European leader in sophisticated software development for major financial institutions worldwide.
A host of global financial services institutions have established operations of scale in Northern Ireland including Allstate, Citi, CME Group, FinTrU, IQ-EQ and TP ICAP.
A dynamic cluster of home-grown companies such as Data Intellect, FD Technologies, Datactics and FSCOM thrive in a supportive entrepreneurial ecosystem in which collaboration and innovation is encouraged and supported by the government.
The North West City Region of Ireland is proposing to establish the world’s first multi-sector regulation supercluster as an exciting and ambitious opportunity for the region, Ireland, UK and internationally. The Supercluster aims to position stakeholders at the forefront of addressing these complex international regulatory challenges by creating the required infrastructure, programmes, training and support to facilitate research, development and commercialisation of innovative regulatory solutions.
The project will build on the region’s unique location straddling the EU-UK border and its cross-jurisdictional pool of talent, expertise and knowledge across multiple regulated sectors – as well as industry clusters and well established multi-sectoral partnerships. By leveraging and building on this strong ecosystem, the Supercluster will drive innovation and be a magnet for further investment and economic growth of the region.
The project is being led by partners Donegal County Council, Derry City & Strabane District Council, Atlantic Technological University (ATU), Catalyst, Alpha Innovation and Ulster University – working closely with other key stakeholders across industry, academia and public investment agencies.
Fintech
Cyber security
RegTech
Nurturing innovation
9 companies in the Deloitte TechFast 50 list
Leading cyber centre
A preeminent hub for investment in the sector and the number one destination for US-based cybertech investment
FinTrU: “The UK is a logical place for a business such as FinTrU. Historically the UK has been a very open country, it has a well established legal regulatory framework and it has a very impressive education system.”
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