Title: “The FinTech Legality: Stay Ahead of the Curve”
Day 2 International Malaysia Law Conference
Speakers:
- Azrina Azmel
- Lum Kar Hoe
- Jenna Beh
Moderator:
- Raymond Mah
On the second day of the IMLC, our managing partner, Mr. Raymond Mah moderated the breakout session themed “The FinTech Legality: Stay Ahead of the Curve”. He introduced the topic and speakers, namely, Ms. Azrina Azmel, Assistant General Manager of Innovation, Digital & Strategy at Securities Commission Malaysia (“SC”), Mr. Lum Kar Hoe, Assurance Senior Manager of PwC Malaysia and Ms. Jenna Beh from the FinTech Division of Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (“MDEC”). The speakers were invited to shared their views on the implication of FinTech for the legal profession and the regulatory challenges relating to FinTech.
Mr. Lum Kar Hoe laid out the FinTech landscape in Malaysia and provided a review of the recent FinTech collaborations between existing financial institutions and FinTech companies as well as the partnerships among FinTech players. He caught the attention of the audience when he shared about the Financial Technology Regulatory Sandbox released by BNM and the regulatory sandbox sessions operated under SC’s FinTech Innovation Lab which allow experimentation of FinTech solutions in a controlled live market environment.
Ms. Azrina Azmel said that the two main regulators in the FinTech industry are the Bank Negara Malaysia (“BNM”) and SC. She helped the participants understand the FinTech initiatives taken by SC to bring in more startups in recent years. The initiatives include regulating equity crowdfunding and peer-to-peer financing, setting up the alliance of FINTech community and introducing the digital investment management framework.
Ms. Jenna Beh emphasized the importance of maintaining a sustainable and robust FinTech ecosystem in Malaysia. She expressed that MDEC is driven to work closely with the regulators, banks, insurance companies and FinTech startups. She told the audience about the FinTech work space created by MDEC at Bangsar South to engage businesses and investors. The work space has been used by BNM to organize quarterly regulatory bootcamps to educate industry players.
The question and answer session that followed was lively and interactive. For the final question, Mr. Raymond Mah asked the panellists to share their views on how lawyers could get more involved in FinTech. The consensus was that lawyers who are interested in FinTech should attend FinTech conferences, events and meetups to learn about the industry and to meet with industry players.
Part 1: https://cn.mahwengkwai.com/mwka-at-the-international-malaysian-law-conference-2018/
