Time ripe for banks to adopt fintech solutions

THE financial industry has experienced a decade of change since the global financial crisis upended traditional business models and cut profit margins to the bone. Many banks have slimmed operations and aggressively cut costs.

However, many banks continue to struggle with low profitability amid fierce competition and ever-stricter regulatory requirements.

And the industry is now facing one of the biggest regulatory shakeups in decades as the European Union implements new financial market rules in the form of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MIFID II) on Jan 3, 2018. While designed to lower systemic risk, MiFID II will almost certainly mean higher regulatory compliance costs and a need to upgrade information technology across many financial market segments.