“More to do” on Kalifa Review implementation
Innovate Finance has called on the government and fintech sector to do more to implement the recommendations outlined in the Kalifa Review.
The industry body pledged to do its part to ensure that the review’s recommendations are delivered properly and quickly, in order to ensure the UK’s place as a global fintech hub. However, it cautioned that more work lies ahead.
The Kalifa Review contained actions for government, regulators and for industry, focused on five key areas: policy and regulation, skills, international, national and investment.
The review was published in February 2021, and since then Chancellor Rishi Sunak has implemented a number of the recommendations, including a new Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT), the creation of a scale box and regulator nursery to support start-up fintechs, and funding for digital ID initiatives.
In last week’s Autumn budget, Sunak announced a review of the pension fee cap, which the review had identified as a block to institutional investment in longer term assets like fintech scale-ups. He also confirmed that R&D tax credits for innovation will be expanded.
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The Autumn budget also outlined plans to attract global fintech talent to the UK – another key issue highlighted by Kalifa.
However, Janine Hirt, chief executive of Innovate Finance, said that there was “more to do”, and called on government bodies to adopt even more of Kalifa’s recommendations, particularly when it comes to “the need for more formal mechanisms to strengthen the strategic cohesion of fintech policies across government and the regulators.”
“This is evident in some policy and regulation areas where progress has perhaps been slower: on digital ID, open finance and crypto regulation; areas where the Kalifa Review identified global opportunities for the UK and a risk of slipping behind other countries in the absence of a clear strategy,” added Hirt.
“Eight months in, there has been lots done; and there is still lots more to do. As well as short and medium term delivery of the Kalifa Review recommendations, we also need to keep a longer term eye on ‘what next?’. With constant market innovation in the market, there will always be more to do….”
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Innovate Finance has already taken forward Kalifa’s recommendations on reaching net zero, on trade promotion and scaling internationally, on fintech for schools, re-skilling, and connecting investors to scaleups.
Adam Jackson, director of policy at Innovate Finance, echoed Hirt’s belief that while some boxes have been ticked, there is still more to do, with Innovate Finance eager to do its part to further the implementation.
“Implementation was always going to be a marathon not a sprint,” said Jackson. “In the fast-paced world of technology and financial innovation, it’s an evolving agenda that will never stand still.
“Ron Kalifa was very clear in his review that industry would have to play a key role in implementing its various recommendations.
“At Innovate Finance we continue to press for the Kalifa Review recommendations and work with others to further develop the policy and regulation agenda to ensure the UK keeps up with the pace of change and remains a trusted, competitive global hub for innovation.”
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