AI in the Financial Services: Promoting regulation in a digital era
Thursday 10 February 2022, 6.00pm to 7.00pm CET
A combination of technological innovation increased urgency to address climate and social issues, and consumer adoption of digital financial services is increasing the scope, complexity and cost of developing and complying with regulatory requirements. These challenges are increasing the demand for next-generation regulatory intelligence and risk management systems that can mitigate new risks emerging within financial services firms and the global financial system more broadly. However, a standardised data structure for regulation remains a critical missing piece needed to make regulation fit-for-purpose in the digital economy, particularly in developing and emerging economies.
Dr Robert Wardrop, Director & Co-founder of the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF), discussed his work sequencing the world’s financial regulation to catalyse innovation across the financial services sector. His work is having a real impact on how both regulators and firms promote financial inclusion in the global digital economy.
Speakers
Dr Robert Wardrop
Bob is an economic sociologist with an interest in understanding how and why digital channels and instruments of finance emerge outside the traditional financial system and how these developments impact the delivery and regulation of financial services. He is on the Cambridge Judge Business School faculty, where he teaches in the MBA and Master of Finance programmes. In 2021, he was awarded the School’s Sandra Dawson Research Impact Award for his work in applying machine learning to regulatory information. He is also the founding Director of the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF), a globally recognised research centre studying the global development of digital financial services. He is the Academic Programme Director of the CCAF’s Cambridge FinTech and Regulatory Innovation online programme, which has enrolled more than 1,200 financial services regulators and policymakers from over 135 countries. In addition to his roles in the business school, he is an Executive Committee member of the Cambridge Centre for Data-Driven Discovery which brings together researchers and experts from academic departments and industry to drive research into the analysis, understanding and use of data science.
Before embarking on an academic career in 2010, Bob had an international career as a professional investor, most recently as a Managing Director in the investment group of one of the largest privately-owned companies in the United States. He has held several board directorships and advisory roles with academic, governmental, and commercial organisations throughout his academic and non-academic careers. Bob holds an MBA from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago, an MSc in Social Anthropology from the London School of Economics, and a PhD from the University of Cambridge.
Mark Branson
Mark Branson is, since August 2021, President of the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). Prior to that, he was for seven years CEO of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), having joined as Head of Banking Supervision in 2010.
He began his career in the financial industry at Credit Suisse, and in 1997 moved to UBS, where he held various leadership positions in London, Zurich and Tokyo. Mark Branson holds an MA in Mathematics and Management Studies from the University of Cambridge and an MSc in Operational Research from the University of Lancaster.