Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance

Who we are

The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) at Cambridge Judge Business School was established in January 2015 to conduct cutting-edge, interdisciplinary, rigorous and independent research on the development of alternative financing instruments, channels and systems, as well as related socio-economic, regulatory and policy implications.

Our team of researchers, experts, technologists and educators share the CCAF’s mission to accelerate the creation and transfer of knowledge that pushes the boundaries of research, catalyses the sustainable development of financial innovation and informs evidence-based regulation.

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What we do

We collect empirical and high-fidelity data from both alternative finance / fintech market stakeholders as well as from regulators, policymakers and supervisors of digital financial services. We have a data-driven and digital-first approach for research. We aim to:

identify frontier global trends in fintech
understand evolving business models enabled by technological innovation
analyse the socio-economic impact of digital financial services

In addition to academic output and research reports, we also produce open-access public digital tools to better visualise data and disseminate knowledge, as well as deliver impact-driven capacity building and educational activities at scale.

Research

The CCAF is forging a cutting-edge, multidisciplinary and collaborative research agenda in:

The development of alternative financing instruments, channels and systems that emerge outside of the traditional financial ecosystem.
The emergence of digital assets / digital money and associated business, regulatory and climate implications.
Fintech regulation and approaches to regulatory innovation.
Supervisory technology its application in financial authorities.
The development of digital market and regulatory infrastructure for instance in open banking and open finance

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Publications

Our faculty, research associates and research affiliates publish and create a wide range of high-impact work – from peer-reviewed academic papers, high-profile industry reports, cutting-edge regulatory and supervisory studies as well as open-access and scalable digital tools. This body of work extends the boundaries of knowledge while promoting the collaboration and engagement with a community of academics, practitioners, business leaders, policymakers and regulators.

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Courses

We provide innovative and engaging capacity building and education courses for central bankers, regulators, supervisors and policymakers as well as for corporate and institutional partners. The CCAF is currently offering executive education courses on fintech and regulatory innovation, supervisory technology, digital assets and soon open finance. To date, the CCAF executive courses have trained more than 2,000 regulators and policymakers from 315 financial authorities in over 145 countries.

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Our impact

Since our founding in 2015, we have published over 50 high-impact and high-profile fintech market and regulatory reports in collaboration with more than 5,000 fintech firms in 195 jurisdictions as well as 130 central banks and other financial regulators. The Centre has created a suite of scalable digital tools, such as the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI), accessible through our digital platform CCAF.io.

The CCAF currently is offering four world-class capacity building and training courses which have trained more than 2,000 regulators and policymakers from 315 financial authorities around the world. Our research has been cited, referenced and utilised widely by academic researchers, as well as business and regulatory communities around the world.

For selected academic, regulatory and policy impact citations:

See our impact page

News and insights from CCAF

Global regulatory trends for digital public infrastructure

A new global report by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) examines global trends for digital public infrastructure (DPI) through a unique regulatory lens, drawing on lessons learned from national and regional strategies. Titled ‘Digital Public Infrastructure and Digital Financial Services: Convergence, Landscape and Regulatory Considerations’, the report has been published with support from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). Here, we explore its key takeaways.

Innovation to impact: technology, governance and regulation

As governments worldwide grapple with the accelerating pace of technological change, the central challenge is no longer technical but institutional: how to translate digital innovation into citizen-first outcomes at scale. The obstacles lie in execution – requiring effective governance, adaptive regulation, and institutional transformation. In this piece, Carlos Montes (Lead – Cambridge Innovation Hub for Prosperity, Montek Singh Ahluwalia (citizen-first public servant and economic reformer), and Pavle Avramovic (Head of Market and Infrastructure Observatory at the CCAF), examine how public institutions can move from policy ambition to real-world impact by building innovation-ready systems that prioritise citizens over processes

Open banking and finance accelerate across APAC region

Open banking and open finance have gained significant momentum across the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, with 16 jurisdictions adopting frameworks to varying extents, a new report by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) reveals.