Fintech Australia and The Regtech Association have signalled their support for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s report on regulatory technology.

A series of initiatives on regulatory reform in the technology and fintech sectors outlined be the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) are being given the tick of approval by Fintech Australia and The Regtech Association.

The report outlined a series of regulatory initiatives ASIC intended to undertake to bolster Australia’s position as a leader in technology regulation.

The ASIC initiatives included:

The establishment of a new regtech liaison group, comprising industry, technology firms, academics, consultancies, regulators and consumer bodies.
The continued use of technology trials to expand on existing trials into areas such as machine-learning to assess documents for evidence, and tools which analyse webpages in the self-managed superannuation fund sector.
To host a regtech problem-solving event later in 2017

The Regtech Association chairman, Julian Fenwick said the report would assist the fintech sector to move forward with a clearer understanding of the regulator’s pathway toward sustainable industry growth.

“The report acknowledges that the time is right to instigate trials into regtech projects, which is in line with the wishes of the RegTech Association,” he said.

“Given Australia’s existing robust financial services regulatory environment, there is no reason why we shouldn’t be a world leader in regtech innovation.

“It is a fantastic start to help promote our Australian regtech industry.”