In a recent interview with Unifimoney, InnReg CEO Francesco Matteini shared his insights on the current status of financial innovation and regulation.
Matteini highlighted areas where open questions about oversight create a regulatory vacuum, leaving fintechs without much-needed compliance guidance.
This state of affairs often leads to innovators assuming otherwise avoidable risks, even - which is not a prudent approach. As a result, community banks and credit unions can be reluctant to offer innovative financial tools. Matteini believes that they should consider all existing regulatory risks and, moreover, consider that all innovation is almost inseparable from technological development. “Almost all innovation is technology-based, and bringing in technology built on much more modern platforms into banking systems is a challenge,” he explains.
Matteini advises community banks to map out and analyze all the relevant compliance actions required for remaining in line with community banking regulations in order to pursue innovation.
In this case, smaller community banks and credit unions have an advantage over larger institutions in having to take fewer steps from identifying an innovative tech tool to approving its usage. Having a more agile sign-off process and a streamlined governance structure could be exactly what leads to the more rapid adoption of new technology.
In his interview, Matteini covers critical strategic questions related to fintech startups about challenges and uncertainties, such as this one:
"What are the biggest compliance hurdles that innovative financial products seem to run up against most often?
Lately, it's uncertainty. There are significant open questions about which regulator has oversight over their specific type of innovation, as in the case of cryptocurrency. We also see concerns about which existing regulatory body or regulation applies to the innovation. And sometimes, it's even the general sense that there is a regulatory vacuum.
Therefore, fintech product creators have to operate in that uncertainty, knowing that perhaps the existing rules do not give you a clear frame of reference on how to behave and remain compliant."
Source: The Braintrust: Francesco Matteini (InnReg) on Financial Innovation and Operating in Uncertainty
The full interview is available on Unifimoney: https://www.unifimoney.com/blog/the-braintrust-francesco-matteini-innreg-on-financial-innovation-and-operating-in-uncertainty.
The Author
InnReg is a team of over 30 Regulatory Compliance and Innovation Consulting experts helping fintechs succeed in highly regulated markets since 2013. InnReg specializes on mitigating regulatory risk while helping clients launch and grow innovative fintech products and services.
