The Connector Podcast - DFS 2023 - Navigating the FinTech Regulatory Landscape with Regsharp

Are you ready to decode the intricate dance between FinTech and its regulatory environment? Fear not, as Franck Manoukian, Chief of Staff at Regsharp, is leading us through this labyrinth. The discussion highlights how Regsharp serves as a guiding star for FinTech companies, helping them align with capital adequacy, acquire licenses, and stay compliant with the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (AML/CFT) frameworks. Franck also unravels the challenges businesses face today and how they leverage Regsharp's expertise to overcome these roadblocks.

The conversation takes a fascinating turn as we dissect the transformative impact of technology on the financial services landscape. We zoom into the user experience and how customer behaviour has ushered in this change. But here's the catch - is it the client behaviour that's driving regulations or the other way round? Frank offers his perspective on this conundrum and how Regsharp helps align new user behaviours with existing regulations. We also navigate the evolution of regulatory bodies and their growing collaborative approach towards the FinTech ecosystem. Don't miss out on this stimulating episode, which promises a unique blend of insight, knowledge, and thought-provoking discussion.

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Koen Vanderhoydonk
koen.vanderhoydonk@jointheconnector.com

#FinTech #RegTech #Scaleup #WealthTech

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Welcome to the Connector podcast, an ongoing conversation connecting FinTechs, banks and regulators worldwide. Join CEO and founder Coen van der Hoijdon as you learn more about the latest available trends and solutions in the market.

Speaker 2: 0:20

Welcome to another episode of the Connector podcast, and this time around with FinTech Belgium at DFS, and I have with me Frank from RECCHARP. Can you tell us a little bit what you do and who you are?

Speaker 3: 0:36

Hello Coen, thank you very much. I'm Frank Manoukion. I'm Chief of Staff in RECCHARP. Reccharp is a consultancy firm, french based in Paris, and in South of France as well, and we are developing our expertise in a kind of crossroad between the regulatory bodies in Europe and the ecosystem of the FinTech, in trying to help them to get their, let's say, license when they are under obliged company regulatory framework, or in helping them in following up a lot of say requirements that they have into the financial service industry, like having a capital adequacy in line with the supervisory body, or following up all their AMLCFT framework in order to be again aligned with all the regulations.

Speaker 2: 1:39

Actually, frank, you bringing some topics that are really close to my heart. We're talking RECCHTech today, yeah so talking regulatory changes and challenges. What do you see are the most biggest challenges that businesses are facing today, and then, maybe second to that, how are you helping them?

Speaker 3: 1:58

Okay, this is the right point to begin.

Speaker 3: 2:02

In fact, today what we are observing and I would say more than today for a few years now in Europe, is that the technology has definitely and deeply moved and make transformation in depth of all the financial services in, let's say, revolutioning all the what we call the user experience, the user use ages in terms of having an approach on the user-centric for all these services.

Speaker 3: 2:36

What I mean is that the technology has changed the behavior of the consumer and in that sense, all the regulatory environment has to, let's say, being transformed in line with this kind of new usage. And that's where RECsharp is coming into action, and first of all, in analyzing and giving a qualification of what is the new usage and how it fits into the regulation in place. First of all, it's our being capable of assessing the behavior and the usage, then to make this in music and to put this into orchestration with the regulation and all the supervisory body requirement, so that first you need or not to have a license and then to follow up all the requirements that you have in this supervisory environment. If I may, it almost sounds like it is first the behavior of the client and then the regulation.

Speaker 2: 3:47

There's a huge debate in the industry. For you, which one is first chicken egg?

Speaker 3: 3:52

For us I would say the first is definitely the client and the services they are looking for, and we have to cope with this and we have to make the regulation body. But I think they understood more and more of this, because this is a different angle of approach. As soon as you have a new usage, as soon as you have a new needs and this is a new way of thinking and this is economic theory is saying a lot about this then the regulatory has to put in place the quiet, the stable environment so that the innovation is really, let's say, put at the forefront of the ecosystem.

Speaker 2: 4:38

Do you see a lot of changes in the recent years? I mean you already said that a lot of changes on the outside, but do you see signs on the wall that also the regulator is following in this new way of thinking?

Speaker 3: 4:51

Yes, I definitely think so In the way we are working all together. It is important here to mention that the regulation and supervisory bodies in Europe talk about to Europe here is very interested in having a collaborative way of working with the ecosystem, in gathering first, in being the leader in gathering the important professional association here we are in, fintech Belgium Association and the, let's say, the pure player of an ecosystem, and not being necessarily reactive in terms of new usage, but in also participating in the proactive way into developing and making this, I would say, breeding ground for making this happening. So this is definitely a new alchemy of all these actors and all the different stakeholders of the ecosystem.

Speaker 2: 5:59

Well, I'm happy to hear that, because, if you look at Asia, for example, Japan has introduced agile lawmaking already a couple of years ago, which is something that we all admired, and what I hear you say is this is happening also here. Yeah, definitely, I can confirm this. Beautiful. What about while looking at Europe? You're France-based. You're here in Belgium today. I presume that your business is international. We all claim we have one European market, so one single market, even better, but how do you deal with the differences that are coming on a national level? You as a wreck-charp.

Speaker 3: 6:36

Yeah, this is a very good point. Today we have, as you say, one single European framework in terms of legal, in terms of regulations and, first of all, directives that have to be transposed within each local jurisdiction. And this is where our expertise can come in, because you generally have to integrate different transpositions with compliance with the regulation which is the same for all the jurisdictions within the EU. So this is where we have to make this kind of equilibris to work in being globally compliant and local, regional, eventually very state-oriented compliant. And this is where the expertise of wreck-charp knowing the regulator globally, european and local, with certain, let's say, jurisdiction, like Belgium, france, and making this very easily, working together and speaking together.

Speaker 2: 7:46

Would that not be the technology, the part that sticks all these things together?

Speaker 3: 7:54

Yes, and this is where we have to work again in a collaborative way Because, say, for example, this Web 3 revolution which is happening at the moment and where the regulatory body is looking at this with the will to make participate all the new structure of intermediates, expertise that you find in the ecosystem, like factories, like labs, like incubators that are part of this discussion for making Europe again as a global, new, open and very constructive market, to get all this ecosystem evolving.

Speaker 2: 8:46

Well, it's great that you guys are here at the DFS today. What were you expecting to find here?

Speaker 3: 8:52

What I'm expecting here to find is, first of all, this is, for us, our first meeting with the Belgium environment. This is very important for us to go into depth it's not only talking about this but to meet people, to see how this ecosystem is living here and how we can Thank you very much, Kun and how we can try to bring on our side another expertise in order to export and try to help this ecosystem to be being more global.

Speaker 2: 9:31

Is that part of your key goals and aspirations for 2024? To be active in Belgium and abroad?

Speaker 3: 9:39

Yes, exactly, I'm active in Belgium and, more generally speaking, over the European Union.

Speaker 2: 9:47

Okay, great, we're almost at the end of our podcast. It goes faster when you're into the regulatory REC tech space. Where can people contact you?

Speaker 3: 9:59

Well, they can contact me here today. We have a stand here, we are open and we have a partner, comply advantage, with whom we are working in combination in terms of responding to the ecosystem needs. And also in France, in RECtechcom sorry, RECsharkcom we are RECtech and we will definitely be very happy to well first explain and try to see how we can fit and how we can, let's say, have an opt-in facilities to the European single market.

Speaker 2: 10:41

Excellent, frank, thank you very much for having you. Thank you, kuhn, thank you also to the audience and please stay tuned. Thank you very much.

Speaker 1: 10:49

Thanks for listening to another episode of the Connector podcast. To connect and keep up to date with all the latest, head over to wwwjointheconectorcom or hit subscribe via your podcast streaming platform.