FinTech Scotland, working with Deloitte, Tesco Bank, Morgan Stanley and Abrdn, has launched an innovation challenge. The industry-led call to action will encourage financial institutions and innovators from across the Fintech community and beyond to learn collaboratively and facilitate industry forums to collectively share best practices for companies to develop new solutions to key financial regulatory challenges. 

The inaugural innovation challenge, spearheaded by the newly established Financial Regulation Innovation Lab (FRIL), and funded through the UK Governments’ Innovation Accelerator programme, delivered by Innovate UK, focuses on ‘Simplifying Compliance through the Application of AI and Emerging Technologies’.

The challenge is to be the first in a series of innovation projects

The first in a series of industry-led innovation calls, the initiative is dedicated to fostering confidence in the adoption of emerging technologies into financial services. Notably, this call aims to demonstrate the ability technology could have in meeting global regulatory requirements, setting a new standard for future advancements in the industry.

FinTech Scotland and the financial services firms are inviting entrepreneurs and innovators to identify and use technologies to address industry compliance challenges. Launched under the principle of responsible innovation, these calls set the stage for exploration and development of effective solutions that will yield positive outcomes for the pressing needs of consumers and businesses alike, resulting in an overall economic contribution.

Nicola Anderson, CEO of FinTech Scotland, said: “We are extremely excited to kick off this inaugural industry innovation challenge. Demand-led innovation calls are an important part of the toolkit that the Financial Regulation Innovation Lab will employ to drive positive outcomes. It is also an opportunity to bring together financial institutions and innovators, enabling financial institutions to learn collaboratively about ways to improve compliance processes to drive efficiency for the sector and, ultimately, increase consumer protection.”

In partnership with the University of Strathclyde and the University of Glasgow, the Lab aims to leverage expertise in financial services risk and compliance and combine this with emerging technologies to build capabilities that maintain and grow both Scotland and the UK’s position as a global leader in financial services regulatory innovation.