Scotland takes the lead on setting international financial regulation

AScottish organisation has launched a lab to lead global financial legislation. 

FinTech Scotland has developed the Financial Regulation Innovation Lab (FRIL) to create a research agenda to understand emerging technologies.  

It is hoped the lab will boost employment opportunities in the sector, with its research providing groundwork to tackle the skills gap across the UK. 

Artificial intelligence will be a central aspect of the research, with the centre exploring it’s used to fight money laundering and to improve ESG (environmental social and governance) management. Other areas to be researched include synthetic data and automation. 

Aiming to become a hub for knowledge, the lab’s output will include white papers – which will be updated in response to industry needs - as well as podcasts and blogs. It will also host a series of events including roundtables and trade missions.  

Stephen Ingledew, chair of FinTech Scotland, said: “FinTech Scotland is taking proactive measures to showcase the effectiveness of how a cluster approach can accelerate the UK’s ability to seize competitive advantage in the future of financial regulation and fintech innovation. FRIL will allow us to continue to endorse the opportunity from the fintech sector to support growth across the UK economy.” 

Funded by the Glasgow City Region Innovation Accelerator programme, the lab will also engage participants in industry-led innovation challenges. Leaders are seeking suggestions for these, covering AI and compliance, consumer duty, financial crime and ESG.  

Developed in partnership with the University of Strathclyde and University of Glasgow, the lab delivers on the commitments made in the FinTech Research & Innovation Roadmap, launched last year, and aligns with the UK innovation initiative,  the Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology.