The REGTECH Book

A FinTech and RegTech Overview:

Where We Have Come From and Where We Are Going

By Douglas W. Arner¹, Ross P. Buckley² and Janos Barberis³

¹Kerry Holdings Professor in Law, Co-Founder, Asian Institute of International Financial Law, and Faculty Director, LLM in Compliance and Regulation, University of Hong Kong

²KPMG Law – King & Wood Mallesons Chair of Innovative Disruption and Law, Scientia Professor, and Member, Centre for Law, Markets and Regulation, UNSW Sydney

³Senior Research Fellow, Asian Institute of International Financial Law, Faculty of Law, University of Hong Kong, and Founder, SuperCharger FinTech Accelerator and FinTech HK

Introduction

In this overview, we seek to set the scene for all that is to come by providing a brief history of FinTech and RegTech, and by giving our particular view on the truly transformative potential of RegTech. In doing so, we draw upon some of our major works in the field.¹

Regulatory and technological developments are changing the nature of financial markets, services and institutions. Financial technology, or FinTech, refers to the use of technology to deliver financial solutions, and regulatory technology, or RegTech, describes the use of technology in the context of regulatory monitoring, reporting and compliance. We argue that the true potential of RegTech lies in its ability to effect a profound transition from a Know Your Customer (KYC) to a Know Your Data (KYD) approach – one underpinned by efficient processes for the collection, ...