WASHINGTON–The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, working in collaboration with 11 financial regulators and related organizations, has announced an initiative to create the Global Financial Innovation Network (GFIN).
The network will seek to provide a more efficient way for innovative firms to interact with regulators, helping them navigate between countries as they look to scale new ideas. It will also create a new framework for cooperation between financial services regulators on innovation-related topics, ABL Advisor reported.
The move comes on the heels of a new report from the Treasury Department that explores the new opportunities fintech offers non-bank financial companies.
"Treasury's review of the regulatory framework for nonbank financial institutions and innovation more broadly has identified significant opportunities to accelerate innovation in the United States..," the report states, noting "a wide range of measures that could promote economic growth, while maintaining strong consumer and investor protections and safe guarding the financial system."
Fintech Investment Hits High
Fintech investment in the U.S. reached a new high of over $8 billion in Q2, following a strong first quarter, according to a new report from KPMG. Total investment during the first half of 2018 increased from $12.2 billion across 371 deals during the second half of 2017, and included more than 10 $100 million+ mega rounds, ABL Advisor explained.
ABL Advisor said the BCFP's collaborative effort is organized around a draft document that sets out the three main proposed functions of the GFIN:
- To act as a network of regulators to collaborate and share experience of innovation in respective markets, including emerging technologies and business models
- To provide a forum for joint policy work and discussions
- To provide firms with an environment in which to trial cross-border solutions