RHT Compliance Solutions, RHT Law Taylor Wessing (RHT) and RHT Academy organised the FinTech Fiesta event on October 5th 2016. The topic was ‘Surging Ahead on the FinTech Wave’. Insurance Market was present.
Insurance Market at FinTech Fiesta 2016
The event was all about sharing information and bringing together stakeholders in the FinTech scene in Singapore and the region. Markus Gnirck, Artur Luhaäär, Hiroyuki Kiga and our CEO Otbert de Jong made up the panel that discussed FinTech and Regulations under the leadership of Nizam Ismail of RHT.
New FinTech companies in the old economy
New economy Fintech companies like Insurance Market and lots of start-ups in the banking space face the challenge of having to operate in old economy regulatory structures. At the root of Fintech companies is often a desire to make financial services more customer friendly and therefore there is a lot of understanding for regulations that protect customer interest. On the other hand, Fintech companies are often still small and do not have the size and resources to fully comply with the requirements which are typically directed at large companies and the old economy. A catch 22.
The new and appropriate regulatory environment
Our CEO proposed that MAS may consider a risk-weighted approach of staggered compliance rather than the sandbox approach currently in use. This means that compliance with certain regulations is relaxed as long as the size of the incumbent is still small and that as and when firms grow the regulatory regime becomes more strict and onerous. In the meantime, regulations can also be adjusted to take into account new risk that are identified that are unique to Fintech. This way firms know exactly when they are subject to what rather than having to face an unpredictable regulatory environment. All stakeholders slowly grow into a new and appropriate regulatory environment.
