Fintech
Brazilian central bank overhauls fintech regulation
Central bank took inspiration from Basel III with phased introduction of regulations for payment firms
PBoC to fine Tencent over AML breaches, report says
Nationwide crackdown on money laundering announced in January
Biden orders CBDC report from Fed and other agencies
Report must advise on how possible CBDC would affect US security and sovereignty
Fintech Benchmarks 2022 report – facing the tech test
Intelligence on internal fintech challenges at central banks as they contend with the fast-paced industry
Digital money and central banks
Central banks must reflect on the monetary policy, regulatory and financial stability implications from crypto assets, stablecoins and CBDCs to stay relevant in the digital age of money
Markus Brunnermeier on the need for CBDCs
The Princeton academic co-authored a paper for the European Parliament exploring the potential pitfalls of CBDCs. But they are still needed, he says
Majority of central banks do not issue fintech licences
Lower-middle income jurisdictions more likely to issue licences than richer nations
Brazil moves forward with crypto legislation
Economic committee votes to give the central bank new regulatory powers
Many central banks have a fintech strategy
Over half of respondents have a dedicated fintech team
Privacy and security are greatest cloud concerns
New computing options and work practice flexibility top benefits
SQL, Python and R top requirements for data scientists
Other staff may perform similar data analysis tasks
Data quality and staff skills are greatest AI challenges – benchmark respondents
Privacy and algorithmic fairness are also concerns
Half of fintech benchmarks respondents use AI/ML tools
Richer nations more likely to use artificial intelligence
Stablecoin risks raise need for CBDC research – Brainard
ECB’s Panetta says “stablecoins are not money”, as Brainard weighs CBDC as possible alternative
Regulators race to curb crypto asset money laundering
Crypto assets are increasingly used as vehicles for money laundering, but regulating them is not necessarily straightforward
Problem of recruiting and retaining fintech talent persists
Salaries a key issue alongside skill set attainment
Cyber security rises as fintech research priority
Suptech overtakes regtech
Sandbox popularity rises at central banks
Trend looks set to continue
Machine learning and NLP top regtech tools
Micro-prudential reporting and risk assessment are main regtech applications
FSB warns of rising crypto asset risks
Sector could harm global financial stability if it carries on growing at current rate, FSB says
Efficient data reporting is main suptech driver
Resource constraints are the biggest challenge in developing a suptech strategy
RBI deputy makes case for crypto asset ban
Left alone, crypto products could “wreck the currency system”, says T Rabi Sankar