RegPac May Newsletter
What’s happening in the Reg/FinTech space?
8th May 2018: The ASEAN Regulatory Summit
Running for the 3rd year, The ASEAN Regulatory Summit offers practical insight into how technology can be leveraged to navigate regulatory risks and optimize compliance in the face of complex global and local regulatory frameworks.
This year’s edition focused on the changes in the regulatory landscape after the implementation of MIFID II, the potential impact of GDPR in ASEAN’s data policy, the regulatory framework for crypto currencies and how Big Data and AI can be leveraged to combat financial crime.
For further information on what was discussed at the event, click here: http://financial-risk-solutions.thomsonreuters.info/ASEANRegulatorySummit2018
Central Bank of Sri Lanka prepares FinTech Regulatory Sandbox
Earlier this month, given the astonishing rise of fintech innovations in the country, Sri Lanka’s Central Bank acknowledged the need to provide an environment that encourages and nurtures fintech initiatives while maintaining appropriate regulatory standards.
The sandbox aims to “ encourage and enable fintech initiatives that promote efficiency and increase access to financial products and services” and the regulators are confident it will lead to greater financial inclusion and cash-less economy.
Full details of the initiative and registration form can be found here.
MAS warns Digital Token Exchanges and ICO Issuer
Over the last few weeks, MAS has reminded eight digital token exchanges to seek MAS’ authorization if the digital tokens traded on their platforms constitute securities or futures contracts under the Securities and Futures Act (SFA). In addition, MAS directed an ICO issuer offering digital tokens to Singapore-based investors to stop doing so.
MAS has reiterated that digital token issuers, intermediaries and platforms that offer, facilitate or trade digital tokens are responsible for ensuring that they comply with all relevant laws. As Mr. Lee Boon Ngiap, Assistant Managing Director (Capital Markets), MAS, said: “The public should be aware that there is no regulatory safeguard if they choose to trade on unregulated digital token exchanges or invest in digital tokens that fall outside the remit of MAS’ rules.”
The full media release can be found at: http://www.mas.gov.sg/News-and-Publications/Media-Releases/2018/MAS-warns-Digital-Token-Exchanges-and-ICO-Issuer.aspx
MAS introduces revised reporting standards for banks to reduce duplicate data submissions
17 May 2018: The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has issued revised regulatory requirements that set out the revised reporting standards for banks in Singapore. These changes will take effect on 1 October 2020. This is in line with MAS’ objectives to collect data in machine-readable format and to reduce duplicate data submissions by financial institutions. (http://www.mas.gov.sg/News-and-Publications/Media-Releases/2018/MAS-introduces-revised-reporting-standards-for-banks-to-reduce-duplicate-data-submissions.aspx)
FinTech Festival
The FinTech festival is fast approaching! From November 12th-16thwe are sure it will prove to be an excellent five days, offering great learning and networking opportunities. You can find the full itinerary here in case you missed it! http://fintechfestival.sg/festival-line-up/event-calendar/
One new feature that we are particularly excited for is the MATCH feature. This will begin with a Deal Making session were Startups and Investors, followed by a conference from notable Investors in the ASEAN space, and open networking opportunities. There is an FAQ on MATCH here: http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/ey-match-faq/$FILE/ey-match-faq.pdf
This year RegPac will be very involved with the organizing of the Festival, and we will be speaking too, so make sure you are there!
We can’t say too much just yet, but more info will be coming as we move closer to the event, so stay tuned for that.
FinTech Innovation Forum 2018
“Our intuition about the future is linear. But the reality of information technology is exponential, and that makes a profound difference. If I take 30 steps linearly, I get to 30. If I take 30 steps exponentially, I get to a billion.” Ray Kurzweil, author, inventor and futurist
The 7th FinTech Innovation Forum will be held this August in Singapore, and will be focussing on "The Future of FinTech: Navigating a World of Exponential Innovation & Irreversible Transformation". If you want to know where FinTech is headed, then make sure you come along. RegPac will be speaking here too, so hopefully we see you there!
MAS Conference with ASEAN regulators
On 23rd May regulators from all across ASEAN joined the MAS to discuss regulation in the region. This included a panel segment from the Singaporean RegTech Industry, featuring RegPac and moderated by Sopnendu Mohanty, the Chief FinTech Officer of the MAS, to discuss the industry and some of the solutions that currently exist. This led to productive discussion on the state of the Industry and answered a lot of the concerns that regulators see for RegTech, starting with the simple stuff such as implementation time and cost efficiency, all the way to more challenging problems like how you deal with physical data records rather than digital ones.
What RegPac has been up to in May:
Returning to our Dutch Roots
This month Singapore welcomed the Dutch Embassy, which offered RegPac the unique opportunity to return to our Dutch roots, and even explore new opportunities with Dutch connections.
Highlights of the itinerary included a matchmaking event, where we met Dutch representatives from around the world, and most excitingly in SEA, offering potential opportunities for expansion outside of Singapore which we will definitely be looking into in the coming months!
RegPac also had the honor of hosting Prince Constantijn in 80RR FinTech Hub. We introduced him to several of our favorite startups in the space, as well as the MAS, in what will surely prove to be the beginning of an exciting business relationship for the future.
Winsemius Awards
RegPac was nominated for Best Rising Star in the Winsemius Awards and we managed to finish as a Finalist, which for a Startup that has only been around fort 9 months makes us incredibly proud! It was great to see so many friends of RegPac at the event to support us, and we hope you enjoyed the evening as much as we did.
UNOPS Book on the Legal Aspects of Blockchain
UNOPS has partnered with the Dutch Government’s “Blockchain Pilots” to write a book on the Legal Aspects of Blockchain Technology. RegPac contributed a chapter on ICO regulation, a very interesting topic in the current regulatory space for sure, and something we will definitely keeping a close eye on!
Want to keep up to speed on this? Find out about the book here:
https://www.unops.org/news-and-stories/news/unops-partners-with-the-dutch-governments-blockchain-pilots-to-explore-legal-dimensions-of-distributed-ledger-technology
What is next for RegPac?
Creative Workshop 26thJune: “From an idea to a $1,000,000 business”
Ever had a brilliant business idea, but had no idea how to make it into a real business? Then this is the workshop for you! In our interactive evening workshop we will teach you everything you need to know to build a successful business, from sales to legal to accounting and more.
A new feature that we are excited to premier is Sharktank. In the Sharktank you pitch your business idea to our panel of VCs and see if you can float. The experts then feedback with their criticism to make sure that in the real thing you stay above water!
Want some more info? Click here to take the first step in changing your business career!
RegTech Crash Course: It is almost here!
RegTech is a new and relatively unknown industry, and as an Ecosystem Builder in the space RegPac is out to fix this! One of our most exciting projects is our RegTech Crash Course – a training course designed by experts in the Industry to give you a solid understanding of what RegTech is and how it can help your business.
We are currently in the demo period for our online release, so after a couple more feedback rounds it will be live! If you want to find out more about this course, let us know at info@regpac.comand we will send you our info pack.
