Regulators need to stay agile to control risks that come with fintech innovation: panel

[ABU DHABI] Regulators need to stay agile and leverage experiences to control the risks that will naturally arise from innovations in the financial-services space, panellists at the Abu Dhabi Finance Week 2022 said on Tuesday (Nov 15).

While legislations tend to lag behind innovations, the role of regulators cannot be overlooked – especially with rising risks in the cryptocurrency space, said speakers at a panel on how regulators are responding to innovation. The talk was part of an investment and finance forum held in Abu Dhabi from Nov 14 to 18.

The panellists were Caroline Pham, commissioner of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC); UK Sinha, former chairman of the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI); Kwok Wai Lum, senior executive director of authorisation and fintech at Abu Dhabi Global Market’s (ADGM) Financial Services Regulatory Authority; and Giuseppe Siani, the director general for financial supervision and regulation at the Bank of Italy. The panel was moderated by Salim Essaid, business correspondent at news website AI-Monitor.