The second breakthrough in a week for fintech firms operating in the UK asset management industry came on Tuesday when the financial regulator said it would consult on how technology could improve regulatory reporting.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) wants views from asset managers, fintechs and other financial actors on how technology can make it easier for firms to meet their regulatory reporting requirements and improve the quality of the information they provide.

The consultation follows on from a November 2017 two-week TechSprint event held by the FCA and the Bank of England, where participants developed a ‘proof of concept’ which could make regulatory reporting requirements machine-readable and executable.

This means that firms could map the reporting requirements directly to the data that they hold, creating the potential for automated, straight-through processing of regulatory returns, the FCA said. 

Every year the FCA receives over 500,000 scheduled regulatory reports from firms, as well as additional ad hoc reports.

The regulator said accuracy of data submissions could be improved and would reduce costs for firms.

Changes to regulatory requirements could be implemented more quickly, and a reduction in compliance costs could lower barriers to entry and promote competition, the FCA added. 

The consultation will close on June 20, 2018.

This is the second boost for fintech this week following The Investment Association’s announcement that it would create a fintech excellorator.

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