Railsbank is buying Wirecard Card Solutions, the UK arm of the disgraced fintech
"A recent development since our June 25th blog 'What Wirecard reveals about regulating FinTechs'. We hope you find this update as interesting as we did!" - RegPac Team -- Looks like another chapter is opening up for Wirecard, the disgraced fintech out of Germany that collapsed into insolvency earlier this year after facing a huge accounting scandal and subsequently failing to make payments on $1.5 billion in loans coming due. Railsbank, the UK startup backed by Visa and othe
The Fourth Industrial Revolution: Facial recognition and the future of KYC
Resulting from the covid-19 pandemic, traditionally face-to-face interactions such as board meetings, press conferences, product announcements, and even family reunions have moved towards an increasingly digital presence via internet based video calls. Suddenly less able to physically meet with customers, whether that be by choice or law, the many challenges already faced by financial institutions now include that of how the identities of new customers can accurately and effi
Will AI Trigger Massive Job Losses in Financial Services?
In financial services, the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) is growing rapidly, bringing in a plethora of opportunities for customer experience and personalisation. Yet, the question of regulation still lingers and must be addressed to tackle the potential risks of AI-driven processes and instil trust, experts said. In a panel discussion on the use of AI in financial services, experts from UnionBank, Money Lion, Silot and InterSystems discussed the current state of AI
Unraveling RegTech's role within Insurtech
RegTech's success in the financial services industry has, ironically, also been one of the factors limiting its growth. Many understand RegTech to be a branch of FinTech, or solely applicable to financial services, however, this greatly underestimates the true potential of RegTech. This common association has been born out of RegTech's successful deployment in helping financial institutions remain compliant. This has manifested due to the perfect storm of increased regulation
MAS commits $250 million to fast-track financial sector innovation, develop Singaporean fintech tale
SINGAPORE - The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is stepping up its support for fintech here, by committing $250 million in the second edition of a scheme to speed up technology adoption and innovation-driven growth in the local financial sector. It also aims to strengthen support for large-scale innovation projects, and build a stronger pipeline of Singaporean fintech talent. The amount will be invested over the next three years under the enhanced Financial Sector Techn
eKYC Landscape in Switzerland
Switzerland has one of the most regulatory heavy ecosystems in the world. Every year, more advanced regulations and compliance are put in place, making it more expensive for financial institutions to meet requirements. Consumers, accustomed to seamless user experiences with larger online players, are now expecting the same level of service with their banks. As new technologies are introduced, sandboxes and startup competitions are set in place to encourage innovation. As a re
The Malaysian 1MBD fraud scandal - can RegTech overcome kleptocracy?
Last Tuesday, the 28th of July 2020, disgraced former Malay Prime Minister Najib Razak was found guilty on the seven charges brought against him relating to the multi-billion dollar ‘1 Malaysia Development Barhad’ (1MBD) scandal, which saw billions of dollars worth of Malay taxpayer’s money funnelled out of Malaysia and into the pockets Najib and his associates. Tuesday’s ruling is a major landmark in the 1MDB case, and marks the first indictment against former Prime Minister
MAS Proposes New Regulations Amid Emerging Risks Arising from Digital Assets
Singapore’s central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), is proposing new regulations that it would give it more power to regulate the financial services industry, notably in the fields cybersecurity and virtual assets, the regulator said on July 21. The new act would introduce new regulations for virtual asset service providers created in Singapore for anti-money laundering and countering of financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) purposes, and would expand MAS’s power
