The Financial Conduct Authority is looking for views on how technology can make it easier for firms to meet their regulatory reporting requirements.
It has launched a RegTech consultation on how technology can improve and facilitate regulatory compliance, just months after it started running ‘Techsprints’.
In a bid to explore ways of how technology can make regulations more efficient and reduce the regulatory burden on firms, last year the regulator started organising “TechSprint” sessions, which bring together financial services providers, tech companies and any relevant parties to develop RegTech solutions.
In November 2017, the FCA and the Bank of England, held a two-week TechSprint to examine how technology can make the current system of regulatory reporting more accurate, efficient and consistent.
As a result, participants at the session developed a proof of concept on how to make regulatory reporting requirements machine-readable and executable. This means that firms could map the reporting requirements directly to the data that they hold, creating the potential for automated, straight-through processing of regulatory returns.
This could benefit both firms and regulators according to the FCA. The accuracy of data submissions could be improved, and their costs reduced, changes to regulatory requirements could be implemented more quickly, and a reduction in compliance costs could lower barriers to entry and promote competition.
The newly launched consultation seeks to build on the proof of concept, as well as asking what wider role technology can play in regulation. It will close in June and is open to regulated firms, technology providers and consultants as well as experts from academia.
Christopher Woolard, FCA’s executive director of strategy and competition, said: “Technology is a powerful shaper of financial regulation, able to make compliance simpler and more efficient. Our TechSprints bring people from across the financial services world together to share their collective knowledge to solve common problems. We look forward to working with industry participants in the coming months to drive these ideas forward.”
Copyright © 2018 RegTech Analyst
Copyright © 2018 RegTech Analyst
