Dynamism in financial market regulation : harnessing regulatory and supervisory technologies

The dynamic development of market practices and services frequently limits regulatory effectiveness. New technologies, however, might assist regulators in better tracking market changes. While Regulatory Technology ("RegTech") has been vastly reducing compliance costs, Supervisory Technology ("SupTech") has the potential to enhance data accuracy even further. Proper integration between these two will assist regulators in obtaining a continuously updated picture of their regulatees and allow higher regulatory adaptability, without incurring extensive additional costs. Still, harnessing technology for regulatory purposes might lead to an increased dependence on technology providers which risks regulatory capture. We argue in this essay that additional requirements, such as technological neutrality and interoperability, are needed to mitigate such risks. We illustrate our case through blockchain proposals for RegTech and SupTech and their interoperability challenge.