IA Fintech Member Insights: Clausematch
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Good morning! Hope you had a pleasant weekend! In this week’s edition of the RegTech X, I look at how UK regulators are cracking down on regulatory data quality. The Prudential Regulation Authority has said that it will soon start calling on banks to prove that the data they have provided is accurate. There are also some interesting developments in relation to RegTech and FinTech. In the RegTech space, the Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship has recently announced the launch of its RegTech Online Course, while in FinTech, industry experts have recently launched the Alliance for Innovative Regulation (AIR) in an effort to bridge the gap between innovators and regulators. In addition, you’ll find articles on SMCR stumbling blocks (not long to go now!), machine learning in anti-money laundering, Moody’s Analytics’ new RegTech solution, and China’s proposed new digital currency. Read on to find out more. Have a great week! ☕
Regulator UK
The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has said that it will soon start calling on financial services companies to prove that the data they have provided to regulators is accurate. “We expect firms to submit complete, timely, and accurate returns,” the regulator said. (Law360) 2 mins The Bank of England (BoE) has also warned that banks face potential investigations and fines if they do not improve the quality of their official reporting. In a ‘stark’ letter sent to the UK’s largest 40 lenders, the BoE said that it had uncovered mistakes and inconsistencies in information provided in the past. (The Times) 3 mins The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published a new webpage that sets out key information and instructions for crypto-assets businesses ahead of implementation of the European Union’s Fifth Money Laundering Directive (5AMLD) early next year. The webpage states that from 10 January 2020, the FCA will be the anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing supervisor of UK crypto-asset businesses under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017. (FCA) 3 mins FCA chief Andrew Bailey had said that there is a strong case for small business lending to be regulated after banking scandals have impacted thousands of companies. Bailey said there needs to be a “serious assessment” of the pros and cons of bringing lending to smaller companies under the remit of the regulator. (The Times) 3 mins In an effort to mitigate fraud, the UK’s Treasury Select Committee has recommended a mandatory 24-hour delay on all initial or first-time bank transfers. According to the committee, criminals stole over £600 million pounds from consumers in the first half of 2019. (Reuters) 2 mins Regulator EU The European Banking Authority (EBA) has called on the European Commission to harmonise rules in relation to cross-border banking and payment services. The EBA believes cross-border payments are being held back by divergences in regulatory requirements across member states. (Finextra) 1 min French banks are upset about proposed changes to the EBA’s stress-test methodology. The dispute is related to sight deposits, which can be withdrawn without notice. (Risk.net) 2 mins Regulator US
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is open to relaxing banking rules designed to create buffer reserves in case of financial crisis, Bloomberg has reported. The rules, which were introduced in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis, stifle liquidity as banks are required to hold a larger proportion of their free cash in emergency reserves. (Markets Insider) 2 mins Regulator Asia China’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), has recently introduced a new FinTech verification system called the Certification of Fintech Products. The new system will certify 11 types of financial technology hardware and software that are widely used for digital payment and blockchain services. (Coindesk) 2 mins HSBC’s deputy chairman and chief executive of Asia Pacific operations Peter Wong has called for China to relax financial regulations so that it’s easier for foreign banks to obtain licenses and raise deposits in the country. “It’s very difficult for foreign banks to get deposits in China,” Wong said. (Pymnts) 2 mins Compliance There’s now less than 50 days to go until the full roll out of the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SMCR), which means that the clock is ticking loud and clear. This article looks at the five most common stumbling blocks for firms soon to be regulated under SMCR and explains what to do about these issues. (FT Adviser) 5 mins RegTech The Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CTFE) has announced the launch of its RegTech Online Course, which it says is the first of its kind in the world. The course is designed to provide RegTech training to institutions and individuals and features use cases from both Europe and Asia. (Business Cloud) 1 min RegTech is just as useful for smaller firms as it is for larger firms, writes Shira Rottner, business development manager at financial compliance group Shield. Rottner says that small- and medium-sized financial firms need to “take the bull by the horns” and invest in a robust RegTech solution so that they can get on with their core business duties, safe in the knowledge that their RegTech solution will protect them. (Global Banking & Finance Review) 3 mins A report from Thomson Reuters has found that in the US, only eight percent of financial services firms implemented a RegTech solution last year, down from 30 percent the year before. The report says the drop was due to the Trump administration’s rollback on financial regulation. (Bobsguide) 3 mins Financial services firm Moody’s Analytics has introduced a regulatory reporting-as-a-service (RaaS) solution for banks. The solution, which is called Reporting Studio, eliminates the need for banks to deploy on-premise software to meet regulatory reporting requirements. (Retail Banker International) 1 min FinTech In an effort to help regulatory agencies deal with the technological challenges posed by FinTech innovation, former deputy comptroller of the currency, Jo Ann Barefoot and David Ehrich of FinTech credit card startup Petal have launched the Alliance for Innovative Regulation (AIR). “New and emerging technologies are poised to transform financial regulation, and AIR is a needed bridge between innovators and financial regulators,” said Thomas Curry, former comptroller of the currency and AIR board member. (Finextra) 2 mins One of the main reasons that the UK is dominating the FinTech scene is that regulators have been supportive. In the US, federal regulators have not yet joined the party, but when they do, the impact for financial institutions could be “sweeping,” says David Brear, CEO at 11:FS. (The Financial Brand) 4 mins In the UK, niche challenger banks are now taking on the likes of Revolut, Monzo, and Starling. Examples of these more specialised challengers include Atom, Bunq, Monese, Tandem, and Tide. (Wired) 4 mins Wealth manager Charles Stanley has appointed FinTech firm Red Deer to help its investment professionals extract ‘optimum’ value from research under Mifid II. The wealth manager said the partnership would enable it to seamlessly integrate Mifid II compliance across its investment process. (CityWire) 3 mins Technology China’s central bank may launch its own digital currency in the next 18 months amid strong endorsements of blockchain from the Chinese government. This would let the government retain control of money supply and help it monitor and regulate capital distribution. (Fortune) 3 mins FinTech experts have said that the US needs to wake up to China’s pursuit of a central bank digital currency. According to Mike Wasyl, managing partner at DeerCreek, a FinTech-focused corporate strategy firm, the US is “stuck trying to regulate its way to innovation.” (CoinTelegraph) 2 mins AML The EU is considering creating a new central authority to tackle money laundering after a series of high-profile scandals highlighted the bloc’s vulnerabilities. The new authority would be responsible for monitoring financial institutions’ compliance with EU regulations on customer due diligence, among other safeguards. (City AM) 2 mins Swedbank faces an increased risk of fines amid allegations its Baltic operations may have handled more than $100 billion in potentially suspicious funds, Sweden’s regulator, the Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) has said. The FSA’s findings to date show that there could be grounds for sanctions, including fines of up to 10% of the bank’s total annual income. (Yahoo Finance) 3 mins Fragmentation in the Asia Pacific region may be holding some financial institutions back from developing robust anti-money laundering (AML) programmes, says Joseph Quiazon, Managing Director and Head of Financial Crime Compliance, APAC at Exiger. A commitment to technology and transformation is the answer to this challenge, he says. (Finextra) 3 mins Machine-learning algorithms can be used to boost the effectiveness of the anti-money laundering (AML) process, write Magdalena Bogdańska and Paweł Kryszkiewicz of Polish IT group Comarch. According to Bogdańska and Kryszkiewicz, 99 percent of alarms generated by traditional AML systems are irrelevant. (Bobsguide) 3 mins |
