CCAF launches digital finance platform for regulators
The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) has launched a pilot programme to develop a platform for digital finance regulators and policymakers.
The CCAF at the University of Cambridge Judge Business School has introduced Regulator Knowledge Exchange (RKE), a digital platform where regulators can discuss, learn, engage, collaborate and coordinate on key issues on digital finance.
The RKE hosts regulator member profiles, peer-to-peer communication channels, a fintech and regulatory innovation-related news feed, relevant regulatory and policy documents, academic papers, datasets and e-books, and a series of live events and webinars.
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It also offers access to digital tools that the CCAF has been developing, such as the RegSimple, which uses technology to allow regulators to benchmark regulatory frameworks regionally and globally.
The RKE is already live with more than 600 regulators from 90 jurisdictions signed up.
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The pilot, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with additional support from the UK foreign, commonwealth and development office, will test the feasibility and scalability of RKE.
The RKE was initially created to support the alumni community of the Cambridge FinTech and Regulatory Innovation Programme (CFTRI), which has trained over 1,200 financial regulators.
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“Regulators are facing common challenges in their response to the speed at which fintech is developing and its increasing complexity,” said Dr Robert Wardrop, director and co-founder of the CCAF.
“The support provided by the Gates Foundation enables us to take the RKE to the next stage of development and to widen its reach to help regulators, particularly in low to middle income countries, to keep pace with, and take advantage of, technological innovation.”
The RKE is one of several CCAF initiatives aimed at supporting financial regulators in the use of fintech globally.
The CCAF also runs in-person and online capacity building activities with financial regulators, development agencies and university researchers specialising in the sector.