Government pledges to back UK fintech with regulation overhaul
The government has pledged a regulation shakeup to support UK fintech as it seeks to slash the red tape blocking innovation.
Speaking at City Week, technology secretary Peter Kyle said the government’s new Regulatory Innovation Office (RIO) would develop new smart tools to make navigating regulatory procedures “faster, clearer and more accessible”.
This will include the use of AI to streamline regulation processes and simplify how fintech firms bring product to markets.
The RIO will join with the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum – a collaborative body established by UK regulators to coordinate their approaches to regulating digital services and technologies – to forge a new unified library providing ‘one stop’ access to digital policy and regulations for innovators.
Kyle said: “The UK is a genuine world leader in both financial services and technology, and in the intersection between the two – fintech – but for far too many companies, the labyrinth of regulatory hurdles is holding them back from bringing innovative products to market.”
The government has been clear in their attempts to woo the fintech industry over the last year, in hopes of retaining some of the UK’s most valuable startups and luring them into a London-listing.
Rachel Reeves eying fintech listings
Kyle echoed sentiments from the Chancellor, who had touted the success of the UK’s fintech sector.
Reeves told industry leaders earlier this year she would make the UK “one of the best places in the world for fintechs to start-up, scale-up and to list”.
But efforts this far have stalled. The chief executive of neobank giant Revolut blasted a London-listing as “not rational” last year and fintech darling Wise ditching its primary listing in the UK last month.
Industry leaders told Morning Wire earlier this year regulation was among top concerns as they push for growth across the industry.
The chief executive of Allica Bank, dubbed Europe’s fastest growing fintech, warned the government “can’t take [fintech’s] success for granted”.
The Treasury’s upcoming Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy is being eyed as a key assessment for the government’s commitment to fintech.