RegTech solutions exceed UK expectations, enhancing regulatory compliance and creating opportunities for companies to achieve transformative operational efficiency

 Download the white paper: “Beyond Compliance: RegTech Delivering Transformative Innovation Across Financial Services” 

London – Enterprise Ireland, the Irish Government’s venture capital arm and one of the world’s largest investors in the fintech sector by deal count, has commissioned a new report on the transformative impact of RegTech for the global financial services industry.

The report examines the importance of RegTech in the ecosystem to promote innovation, the role of emerging technologies to enhance the value proposition of RegTech solutions, and the systemic change resulting from implementation.

Irish RegTech companies have established a world-class reputation for helping financial services customers in the UK and worldwide deal with the increasingly complex and rapidly evolving regulation, as well as continuous disruption and transformation, that characterises the industry today.

Analysing the disruption and transformation in the financial services industry, the report also highlights how technology-based innovative products and services have promoted greater agility, better productivity and lower costs. [1] Something UK companies can look to benefit from.

Of end-users in the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) industry, 19% of respondents identified ‘meeting standards and regulatory policies’ as one of their top three challenges.[2]

Estimates indicate that companies expect to spend 10% of their revenue on compliance by 2022. Despite the efforts, companies continue to pay heavy penalties for erroneous reporting and non-compliance.

The size of the challenge is further exacerbated by the variance in regulations globally. According to Thomson Reuters Cost of Compliance Survey, 2017, 67% of banks that participated in the survey expect an increase in compliance budgets to cater for regulatory pressure.[3]

As the second most active fintech investor in the world,[4] Enterprise Ireland supports over 60 Fintech client companies exporting to the UK market, helping benefit wider UK economic growth.[5]

Technology-enabled solutions from RegTech providers offer companies an effective and efficient approach to create a structure for companies to improve regulatory adherence and enable an environment that is conducive to compliance.

The publishing of the report was announced during MoneyConf, a leading technology, networking event, which took place in Dublin earlier this month.  Organised by the team behind the world’s fastest growing technology event, Web Summit, MoneyConf saw the world of finance coming together to network and learn from industry leaders.

According to the author of the report, Deepali Sathe, ICT Senior Analyst at Frost & Sullivan: “RegTech solutions are agile, secure and automated, thus simplifying the adherence procedures. These solutions can be integrated with existing systems and complement the current compliance teams. The impact is visible with better compliance, reduced costs and enhanced decision-making.”

Commenting on the Report, Deirdre McPartlin, UK Manager at Enterprise Ireland, said: “The RegTech industry is expected to grow rapidly and total US$6.46 billion globally by 2020. RegTech will facilitate operational excellence as the data analytics and insights can be used to enhance existing products and services. The agility and flexibility enabled by RegTech solutions can be extended to other activities within the organisations to promote better understanding of the marketplace and clients. The collaborative ecosystem will further promote standardization and better risk management.

“Ireland’s unique ecosystem, one of the world’s foremost enterprise software centres with over 40% of global hedge fund assets being serviced in Ireland, has led to the development of Ireland being a leading RegTech hub. This resulting regulatory expertise is leveraged by Irish RegTech companies such as Know Your Customer, Corlytics, Governor Software, Fenergo and Gecko Governance, to help leading funds, banks and insurance companies worldwide deal efficiently with compliance, while also making better, data-driven management decisions.

“In addition to the growing importance of RegTech, Fintech is also a national priority for Ireland and as Britain enters its new economic chapter, Ireland will continue to be a crucial trading partner. Combining the technical and financial expertise global fintech buyers seek, Irish fintech companies have a competitive advantage that UK partners and customers can capitalise on to provide opportunities for the UK and beyond.”

The report also highlighted the pivotal role that regulators play in the increasing adoption of RegTech. From creating controlled environments with Regulatory Sandboxes for RegTech start-ups to test their solutions, to endorsing solutions to promote adoption by incumbents, regulators can use their influence within the industry. As they experiment with launching digital rule books, it will further ensure development of a ‘digital-first’ approach across the industry. The ease of integration and sustainable expenditure are other factors that are contributing to the growth of the industry.

In early 2018, the Central Bank of Ireland announced plans to launch a FinTech innovation hub, with the intention of engaging with all firms that are delivering innovation across the financial services sector.

“The quantum of data that the incumbents in the industry possess is an inherent strength. Use of advanced technologies to improve RegTech solutions and leverage this data to offer insights to enhance operational efficiency is definitely the way forward. Technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), data analytics and Blockchain will equip RegTech solutions to make smarter decisions,” said Adrian Drozd, ICT Research Director, Frost & Sullivan.

 An example of the benefits achievable is the development of Austria’s Central Bank working with the country’s banking community to create Europe’s largest joint venture reporting services utility, which has helped reduce regulatory compliance costs by 30%.

Download Enterprise Ireland’s RegTech white paper IrishAdvantage.com/RegTech