Dr. Mohammad Ali Tareq is a finance scholar specializing in financial economics, financial technology (FinTech), blockchain, and innovation management. He is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Finance at the Faculty of Business and Economics, Universiti Malaya, Malaysia. His work focuses on the intersection of financial markets and technological advancement, particularly digital financial systems. He holds a PhD in Business Administration from Shiga University, Japan, where he examined the empirical validity of the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). He also earned an MPhil in Real Estate Finance from the University of Cambridge, researching macroeconomic influences on REIT returns, and completed his MBA and BBA in Finance from the University of Dhaka. Before joining Universiti Malaya, Dr. Tareq served nearly a decade at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia’s Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology (MJIIT). His academic experience spans teaching, research, and curriculum development across international settings. His research interests include asset pricing, financial markets, FinTech, blockchain, and digital transformation in finance. He applies econometric methods to study how technological innovations shape financial systems, investor behaviour, and institutional dynamics, contributing to more efficient and inclusive financial ecosystems.