The ever-widening world of regtech

As the phenomenon of regulatory technology continues to take hold, the banking industry is being introduced to new ways of collecting and analysing the vast amounts of data that is generated naturally within their businesses. Perhaps more importantly, what started as a way of efficiently meeting regulators’ latest demands is now being used to improve decision-making on a day-to-day commercial basis.

These observations were put forward in a recent conversation with Andrew Bockelman, general manager of banking regtech at Moody’s Analytics.

Interestingly, Bockelman said one of the challenges facing the banking industry in embracing regtech is the ability to identify and recruit the talent necessary to implement a whole new approach to using technology to analyse large pools of data. He cited Capital One and BBVA as two firms that have opened offices in Silicon Valley to facilitate that transfer of knowledge.

Bockelman noted that regulators themselves are taking a more open, participatory approach to encouraging regtech as part of the larger fintech movement. In particular, he named the UK Financial Conduct Authority and the US Securities Exchange Commission as regulators that have worked with banks and vendors through incubators and sandboxes to develop technologies in a more cross-collaborative manner.

Bockelman also noted that, while regtech start-up companies are getting their fair share of attention, larger, more established firms such as Moody’s Analytics have taken the appropriate steps to embrace a culture of innovation. “We’ve brought in a head of innovation to ensure we’re thinking farther down the track than the next iteration of existing technology. We’ve embraced the need to innovate without ignoring the legacy systems that our customers rely on,” he said.

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