Exploring RegTech: The Intersection of Regulation, Data, and Technology

In recent years, we have seen an explosion of regulatory technology, or “RegTech.” These solutions have the potential to transform the regulatory reporting process for the financial industry and the U.S. federal government. But RegTech can only thrive if government financial regulatory agencies, like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), adopt structured open data standards for the forms they collect from the private sector. We have seen changes and momentum for RegTech adoption is picking up, but there is much more to be done.

At this year’s RegTech Data Summit on Tuesday, April 23, in New York, we’ll explore the intersection of regulatory reporting, emerging technology, and open data standards with financial regulators, industry leaders, RegTech experts, academics, and open data advocates.

The Data Coalition has long advocated for RegTech policy reforms that make government regulatory reporting more efficient and less burdensome on both agencies and regulated entities. The benefits are clear. Unified data frameworks support efficient analytical systems; common, open data standards clear the path for more accurate market risk assessments among regulators and bolster transparency.

The Summit comes at an opportune time. Federal financial regulators have already begun replacing document-based filings with open data standards.

Within the past year, the SEC voted to mandate inline eXtensible Business Reporting Language (iXBRL) for corporate financial filings. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) proposed a rule change that would require a transition to XBRL from XML. The House of Representatives held the first-ever hearing on Standard Business Reporting (SBR). The Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) reiterated its recommendation for the adoption of the Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) to improve data quality, oversight, and reporting efficiencies.

There are also a number of international examples of government-wide adoption of open data that can serve as a guide for similar efforts in the U.S., which we will explore at our Summit. Standard Business Reporting (SBR), as successfully implemented by Australia, is still the gold standard for regulatory modernization efforts. By utilizing a standardized data structure to build SBR compliance solutions, the Australian government was able to streamline its reporting processes and save their government and private sector $1 billion AUD from 2015-2016.

The success of SBR in Australia is undeniable. During our Summit, panelists will discuss how Congress is considering policy reforms that will enable the adoption of RegTech solutions to theoretically achieve the same savings as Australia. The Coalition has supported the Financial Transparency Act (FTA) since its introduction (H.R. 1530,115th Congress). The FTA directs the eight major U.S. financial regulatory agencies to collect and publish the information they collect from financial entities in an open data form, electronically searchable, downloadable in bulk, and without license restrictions.

Once financial regulatory reporting is expressed as standardized, open data instead of disconnected documents, RegTech applications can republish, analyze, and automate reporting processes providing deeper insight and cutting costs.

Entity identification systems are another pain point for the U.S. regulatory community. A recent Data Foundation report, jointly published with the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF), discovered that the U.S. federal government uses at least fifty distinct entity identification systems – all of which are separate and incompatible.

If widely and properly implemented in the United States, a comprehensive entity identification system based on the LEI could help identify and mitigate risk in financial markets, track and debar low-performing federal contractors, improve supply chain efficiency, and generally be useful anywhere a government-to-business relationship exists. By working together, industry and government leaders can reap the benefits of these emerging RegTech solutions and open data applications.

Karla McKenna, who is Head of Standards at GLEIF and specializes in international financial standards, and Matt Reed, Chief Counsel at the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Financial Research, are among the leading voices we will hear from at the Summit. Together with Ken Lamar, former Special Vice President at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and Robin Doyle, Managing Director at the Office of Regulatory Affairs at J.P. Morgan Chase, they will analyze the status of open standards and the impact a single entity identifier.

We’ll be delving into RegTech applications like blockchain, analytic applications, and AI systems, as well as policies that will transform regulatory reporting like the FTA, and more at the second annual RegTech Data Summit on April 23. The Summit will convene financial regulators, industry leaders, academics, and open data advocates to discuss the latest innovations in regulatory technology and what the future holds.

Summit-goers will have the opportunity to hear from SEC, Treasury, FDIC, and J.P. Morgan Chase representatives just to name a few. Featured speakers include former SEC Commissioner Troy Paredes; Dessa Glasser, Principal, The Financial Risk Group and formerly CDO, J.P. Morgan Asset Management; and Mark Montoya, Senior Business Analyst, FDIC.

The Summit will focus on three main themes as we explore the future of U.S. regulatory reporting technology:

• Enterprise Digitization: The modern enterprise faces a myriad of internal and external data challenges. By internally aligning common data formats and adopting open standards, financial institutions can build a competitive information foundation to more efficiently leverage emerging technology.
• Open Data Standards: Adopting a single, open data standard for entity identification among U.S. regulatory agencies would create a framework for financial institutions and regulators to more accurately assess market risk, improve reporting efficiencies, lower transaction costs, and improve data quality.  
• Reporting Modernization: By adopting open data standards, the U.S. government will be able to improve oversight and provide higher levels of accountability to citizens; facilitate data-driven analysis and decision making in agencies; and expand the use of automation, which will reduce compliance costs.

It is clear that RegTech solutions will disrupt compliance norms by increasing efficiency, enhancing transparency, and driving analytics. However, successful implementation of this technology is only possible when government and industry focus on collecting, reporting and publishing quality and structured data. If you are eager to explore the future of compliance in which document-based regulatory reporting will become a thing of the past, then join us at the second annual RegTech Data Summit, The Intersection of Regulation, Data, and Technology.