{"id":4266,"date":"2016-11-07T10:02:59","date_gmt":"2016-11-07T02:02:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zegal.com\/?p=4266"},"modified":"2024-12-27T18:46:46","modified_gmt":"2024-12-27T10:46:46","slug":"navigating-regulatory-challenges-fintech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zegal.com\/en-hk\/blog\/post\/navigating-regulatory-challenges-fintech\/","title":{"rendered":"Navigating The Regulatory Challenges Of #FinTech"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/b>FinTech communities in Hong Kong and Singapore are coming together at the moment to celebrate exciting new developments in the field of FinTech with the <\/span>Hong Kong FinTech Week<\/span><\/a><\/span> and the <\/span>Singapore FinTech Festival.<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Singapore<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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\"Hong<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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<\/span>What is Fintech?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Financial technology, or <\/span>FinTech<\/span><\/i>, refers to the evolving intersection of financial services and technology. FinTech in the APAC region is growing. According to <\/span>an Accenture report<\/span><\/a><\/span>, FinTech investment in Asia-Pacific more than quadrupled in 2015 to $4.3 billion and is now the second biggest region for FinTech investment after North America. Everyone is fighting for a finger in the pie \u2013 these tech-driven financial services are provided by startups, technology companies, and even incumbent financial institutions.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/span>FinTech’s Capacity for Growth<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With growing support for FinTech in the Asian financial hubs of Singapore and Hong Kong, now is an exciting time to be in FinTech. Singapore\u2019s strong commitment to being a FinTech leader and building a \u2018<\/span>Smart Financial Centre<\/span><\/span>\u2019 is evident in its efforts to nurture the FinTech space. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a\u00a0<\/span>speech at the Singapore Forum<\/span><\/span> earlier this year, the Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Mr Ravi Menon, stated that the MAS was committed to actively engaging FinTech firms to better understand emerging innovations and help them design their solutions for financial services. The idea is to allow financial institutions to experiment with new technologies in a safe environment and promote greater inter-operability within the industry to harness the full potential of technology. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Hong Kong, there is <\/span>growing collaboration<\/span><\/a><\/span> between financial institutions and FinTech startups, with the former establishing incubators and accelerator programmes such as the <\/span>DBS Accelerator<\/span><\/span> and <\/span>SuperCharger<\/span><\/a><\/span> to bring themselves closer to the local startup community and discover innovative solutions to meet their needs. A McKinsey article identified <\/span>six emerging FinTech trends<\/span><\/a><\/span> in China that will continue to drive the industry\u2019s growth:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Mobile payment and wealth management<\/b>. While payment is the most mature sector in Internet finance, there is still room to grow, especially in the areas of online-to-offline mobile payment via smartphones and near-field communication payment. <\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Online consumer and SME finance.<\/b> As young Chinese consumers are early adopters and more open to online personal finance products, while SMEs contribute a significant share of GDP and employment, FinTech is set to capture these markets. <\/span><\/li>\n
  3. B2B Internet finance.<\/b> The needs of Chinese companies are growing more complex, going beyond borrowing to transaction banking and asset management, all of which FinTech is primed to capitalise on. <\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Financial cloud and infrastructure<\/b>. Cloud-based services are more cost-effective, as they allow customers to easily access information with minimal upfront and overhead spending, and provide greater flexibility, as they can be quickly scaled up or down. <\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Big data application<\/b>. <\/span>Big data allows financial institutions to collect and analyse customer data and provide more tailored products and services through a personalised marketing experience. <\/span><\/li>\n
  6. Disruptive technology<\/b>. Disruptive technologies such as blockchain and smart contracts will enable point-to-point transactions without a clearing intermediary, thereby reducing transaction time and cost. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Source: McKinsey<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/span>Key Challenges in FinTech<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    At the same time, FinTech is not an easy space to be in, especially given the number of players \u2013 referred to as the As, Bs, Cs, and Ds \u2013 in the FinTech ecosystem.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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