Central Banking’s 5th Annual FinTech & RegTech Global Awards

Central Banking is pleased to announce the winners of its 5th annual FinTech & RegTech Awards, recognising excellence in the central banking community.

• Global Impact Award – Bank for International Settlements
• Techforward Award – Peter Wierts, De Nederlandsche Bank
• Pioneer Award – UK Financial Conduct Authority
• Central Bank Digital Currency Infrastructure – Banque de France
• Payment Innovation – Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
• Cyber Resilience Initiative – Bank Indonesia
• Data Management Initiative – Banco Central do Brasil
• Cloud Innovation – European Central Bank
• FinTech Policy – Bank of Ghana
• Global Technology Partner – Regnology
• Data Analytics Partner – FNA
• Finnovator – IME Digital Solution
• Anti-money Laundering Technology Partner – Financial Transparency Solutions
• Technology Partner for Regulatory Compliance – Invoke
• Data Management Partner for Regulatory Compliance – Global Voice Group
• Cloud Solution Partner – Appvia
• Central Bank Digital Currency Partner – Movmint
• Payments Technology Partner – Digital Asset
• Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence Partner – Symphony AyasdiAI 

A full list and brief description detailing the rationale for the awards as well as reaction comments from senior central bank policy-makers, can be found below. These include: Agustín Carstens, François Villeroy de Galhau, Benjamin Diokno and Dr. Ernest Addison. 

Other reactions include those from: John C.H. Kim, James Claude, Kimmo Soramäki, Bikash Nahata, Antoine Bourdais, Garrett Dunker, Jay Keshur and Simon Moss.

Articles supporting the awards are published on CentralBanking.com, and will be published in a bespoke awards supplement circulated in tandem with the September 2022 edition of the Central Banking journal.

Global Impact Award – Bank for International Settlements

The Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub has been recognised for its pioneering work in its centres across the world. This year it partnered over 15 central banks, and many private practitioners. Projects have looked at issues such as managing CBDC liquidity, the future of green bond tokenisation, developing cross-border regulatory data models, using real-time news for supervision, and instant cross-border payments. 

Commenting on the recognition, Agustín Carstens, General Manager of the BIS, said:

“I thank Central Banking for this award, which is testament to the hard work and dedication of our staff and our central bank partners in the BIS Innovation Hub. Together we are developing technological products that address challenges in the financial system. Through this work, we are ensuring that central banks are prepared for the digital transformation of the economy, and of money itself, as we navigate into the future.”

Joasia E. Popowicz, Associate Editor of Central Banking, said:

“The Bank for International Settlements’ Innovation Hub has shown an extraordinary level of vision and collaboration to advance the future of central banking. Their work fosters public-private relationships to harness cutting-edge technology and address some of the most pressing issues in the financial sector. I am excited to see the work of newly established centres and future projects.”

Techforward Award – Peter Wierts, De Nederlandsche Bank

Peter Wiert’s forward-looking work brings together the tensions between private and public interests in payments, CBDCs and digital asset regulation. As well as publishing research taking a historical view on which forms of money are adopted and which disappear, this summer he will join the Bank for International Settlements as a visiting scholar to work on future crypto regulation. 

Commenting on the award, Olaf Sleijpen, member of the Executive Board of the Dutch central bank (DNB), said:

“I would like to thank Central Banking for this years’ award related to policy development in the field of digital assets. This is a high priority area for us, and we remain committed to international policy coordination, among others at the level of the standard setting bodies.”

Joasia E. Popowicz, Associate Editor of Central Banking, said:

“Peter Wiert’s forthcoming paper, published with colleagues, continues his work on digital asset policies and regulation, informed by a historical view of the evolution of money. As crypto regulation continues to become an urgent focus for policy makers around the world, I look forward to his contribution at the Bank for International Settlements this summer.”

Pioneer Award – Financial Conduct Authority UK

The digital sandbox at the Financial Conduct Authority UK innovation hub uses cutting-edge synthetic data sets to test and develop technology solutions. For the second year, fintechs have been invited to work on some of the most complex challenges in the financial industry. This year’s sustainability cohort is focusing on ESG data and disclosures to enhance transparency, as well as automating the validation of ESG labelled corporate bonds. 

Commenting on the award, Jessica Rusu, the FCA’s Chief Data, Information & Intelligence Officer, said:

“We at the FCA are particularly proud to receive Central Banking’s Pioneer award. It comes at a time when financial services have had to adapt at record-breaking speed to the world’s economic and political shocks. As a regulator, we have had to be reactive to these forces but we also know that to future-proof our economies, we need to also be proactive. Our Digital sandbox scheme aims to support innovation for FinTech and RegTech. Along with the City of London Corporation, the FCA has brought together industry experts and mentors to provide access to safe, meaningful data sets for firms who want to examine sustainability, vulnerability and counter fraud in a risk-free laboratory-style environment. Your award bolsters our resolve to roll out our Digital Sandbox and other pilot schemes, so we can help firms innovate responsibly.”

Joasia E. Popowicz, Associate Editor of Central Banking, said:

“Synethetic data sets are particularly challenging to create due to privacy issues and the risks around reverse engineering. Well done to the Financial Conduct Authority for pioneering work creating GDPR-compliant data assets, and promoting public-private cooperation. The FCA’s digital sandbox supports fintech and fosters innovation. We were also impressed with the topics selected to tackle across the digital sandbox cohorts, including detecting and preventing fraud scams and financial access for SMEs, as well as validating ESG disclosures and corporate bonds.”

Central Bank Digital Currency Infrastructure – Banque de France

The Banque de France launched a series of nine CBDC experiments working jointly with public and private market participants. The focus of projects ranged from securities settlement using distributed ledger technology-based platforms, to cross-border payments using wholesale CBDCs – showcasing the interoperability of systems. A key driver was to conduct these experiments in real life conditions from a regulatory perspective, not just as proof-of-concepts. 

Commenting on the award, François Villeroy de Galhau, Governor of the Banque de France, said:

“The experiments conducted by BdF demonstrated that a wholesale CBDC could significantly improve cross-border and cross-currency payments through the optimisation of payment processes. The work conducted by the international community, notably under the aegis of the G20, should further explore this dimension: our ability to improve cross-border transactions will be a major challenge in the coming years.”

Joasia E. Popowicz, Associate Editor of Central Banking, said:

“The Banque de France’s ambitious programme resulted in important contributions to wholesale CBDC, cross-border transactions and settlement exploration. I look forward to learning from the results of its future partnerships. The Banque de France’s approach exemplifies one of the best examples we saw of a collaborative approach to technological advancement.”

Payment Innovation – Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

The Payment Innovation Award recognises Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, whose big bang approach to rolling out its ISO 20022 compliant real time gross settlement (RTGS) system, forms part of its digital transformation initiative. 

Commenting on the award, Governor of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Benjamin Diokno said:

“Our innovative move of adopting the ISO 20022 messaging standard through a big bang methodology forms part of the BSP’s digital transformation initiative, where we leverage on emerging technologies to keep our regulatory approach responsive to the growing complexity of market conditions. The hardcore alliance between the BSP and the RTGS payment system participants enabled us to rise above the challenges of implementing this methodology. So far, the fruits of this partnership are heartening—facilitating a more efficient exchange of payment messages and reducing the cost of surveillance on large value payments.”

Joasia E. Popowicz, Associate Editor of Central Banking, said:

“Central Banking was impressed with the level of effective risk management the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas demonstrated in prioritising the digital payments transformation in the Philippines, particularly under challenging circumstances during the pandemic.”

Cyber Resilience Initiative – Bank Indonesia

As the incidence of cyber attacks rises across the financial sector, people become the main targets because it is easier to exploit the weaknesses of human nature than systems. In response Bank Indonesia developed a targeted, and most importantly effective, cyber security culture program. It is also at the centre of national interagency cyber resilience efforts, including building a financial computer security incident response team. 

Commenting on the award, Juda Agung, Deputy Governor, Bank Indonesia, said:

“It is truly delighted and a great honor to receive this award. Cyber resilience should be addressed from the aspect of people, process, and technology. For this program, we are focusing on people which is the weakest link. We will not stop here. This is a continuous endeavor that need to be strengthened from time to time. Let’s build our financial ecosystem stronger, together.”

Joasia E. Popowicz, Associate Editor of Central Banking, said:

“Congratulations to Bank Indonesia for its comprehensive approach to cyber security. As well as addressing the scale of the threats directed at the institution, it is at the centre of national efforts to prevent attacks and ensure a swift and coordinated response.”

Data Management Initiative – Banco Central do Brasil

The Banco Central do Brasil is pioneering the transition from Open Banking to Open Finance. It launched its Open Finance initiative to foster competition in the financial sector by standardizing the sharing of data, at the consumer’s discretion. Today, representatives from the nation’s biggest banks, challenger banks, credit unions, payment institutions and credit fintechs have equal status in the governance and parity of vote in order to propose Open Finance’s technical standards.

Commenting on the award, João André Calvino Marques Pereira, Head of the Regulation Department of the Central Bank of Brazil, said:

“This award crowns the Central Bank of Brazil’s commitment and efforts in order to build a new and more competitive, efficient, modern, safe and inclusive financial system in Brazil. Open Finance is a key driver for this reform, as it pushes for more innovation and better customer experience, and consequently better financial services all-around, while mitigating privacy and security risks. Long it has been said that data would be the new oil. The Central Bank of Brazil recognizes this particular concept and promotes through Open Finance an ecosystem which ensures that financial consumers can decide when, with whom and for how long they want to share their personal data, putting them in full control over their personal finances. So it is both flattering and exciting for the Central Bank of Brazil to be recognized as a leader in this Open Finance movement.”

Joasia E. Popowicz, Associate Editor of Central Banking, said:

“The Banco Central do Brasil has shown excellence in spurring innovation in Brazil’s financial services landscape, which can only be done with a foundation of quality data and good governance surrounding its use. The emphasis on consent from customers, as well as meaningful dialog between financial services providers is an example of what central banks can achieve at this exciting time. We are excited to see the Central Bank of Brazil continue on its Open Finance journey, with financial inclusion at its heart.”

Cloud Innovation – European Central Bank

The European Central Bank created a state-of-the-art cloud-based digital Virtual Lab to fast-track innovations across European banking supervision. The platform enables a truly collaborative approach, allowing supervisors to share their work and solutions. The Virtual Lab also introduced a machine learning workspace for the development of advanced analytics. This new environment for code and model development allows users to build and train algorithms rapidly, to take supervision to the next level. 

Commenting on the award, Daniela Schackis, Deputy Director General SSM Governance & Operations, and Magi Clavé, Deputy Director General Information Systems, said:

“Collaboration and innovation are critical elements of modern Banking Supervision. Supervisors need to be able to work together across different functions, authorities and countries to ensure that the banking system remains safe and sound. The Virtual Lab empowers this collaboration and is the first step in enabling the banking supervision of tomorrow, today. By providing a fully integrated suite of applications for efficient digital cooperation and advanced analytics, the Virtual Lab is a game-changer and paves way for further digital breakthroughs.”

Joasia E. Popowicz, Associate Editor of Central Banking, said:

“The ECB has created an innovative solution to foster international collaboration and greater ensure financial stability. I look forward to seeing how the Virtual Lab contributes to developments in European banking supervision.”

FinTech Policy – Bank of Ghana

The Bank of Ghana’s policies responded to the needs of the payment service provider and mobile money operator industries. The central bank showed innovation and resourcefulness, by internally developing a supervisory intelligence platform, that uses geospatial mobile data to understand not just transaction values and volumes, but also the locations of these activities. As well as allowing the central bank to supervise money laundering, terrorism financing, and fraud within the ecosystem, the central bank can conduct credit and liquidity risk assessments on the regulated entities, to protect stakeholders.

Commenting on the award, Dr. Ernest Addison, Governor of the Bank of Ghana said:

“The purpose of innovation is not to follow trends; but to create solutions that are unique, tailored and adaptable to one’s ecosystem.”

Joasia E. Popowicz, Associate Editor of Central Banking, said:

“We were particularly impressed with Bank of Ghana’s powerful solution, developed with relatively fewer resources. It supervisory intelligence platform shows how fintech innovation can inform central banks’ financial inclusion policies, as well as fintechs benefiting from a supportive fintech policy environment.”

Global Technology Partner – Regnology

Regnology is a world-class provider of regtech and suptech solutions to central banks, tax authorities and financial regulators. Its products allow authorities to collect the right data, identify risks and gain insights to make decisions faster, in continually changing markets. Regnology works with over 50 regulators, that collect data from 34,000 firms. Meanwhile, 7,000 companies use Regnology’s software to report.  

Joanne Horgan, SupTech Product Director at Regnology, said:

“We are delighted to receive this prestigious award and would like to thank Central Banking and their team for this honour and recognition. This award recognizes our global presence as a top-class technology partner and we are delighted to have added many new high profile clients to our community of over 50 central banks, regulators and tax authorities. It has been a year of change for us with Vizor becoming part of Regnology but through the hard work and dedication of our team it has been a great success. We would also like to say a huge thank you to our customers and clients.”

Joasia E. Popowicz, Associate Editor of Central Banking, said:

“With a presence in Europe, the Asia Pacific and Africa, Regnology truly is a global partner. Central Banking was impressed with Regnology’s trusted services, which utliise the cloud to meet new and evolving regulatory requirements.”

Data Analytics Partner – FNA

It is an exciting time for the explorations of CBDCs, with much debate around which designs work best for the needs and aims of different jurisdictions. FNA’s CBDC simulator allows stakeholders to test scenarios when designing a CBDC. Their micro agent-based simulations allow users to assess the network effects and ultimately the macro impacts of different CBDC designs, on areas such as adoption rate, financial inclusion, disintermediation, and competition with other payment instruments.

Commenting on the award, Kimmo Soramäki, CEO and Founder, said:

“At FNA, we are delighted to receive this award for our CBDC Simulation Solution. Many central banks, financial market infrastructures, and banks are preparing for the introduction of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC). This recognition confirms our commitment to supporting them to rapidly assess the commercial, macro-financial and financial stability implications of these fundamental changes to the payments landscape. I would like to extend thanks to all of our clients who have worked with us over the years to result in this award.”

Joasia E. Popowicz, Associate Editor of Central Banking, said:

“With so many central banks exploring retail CBDC options, FNA was recognised for its innovative CBDC simulator. The technology can help central banks model outcomes and inform their decisions around this important development in payments.”

Finnovator – IME Digital Solution

IME Digital Solution have shown great passion and drive, as well as technological excellence by partnering with over 25+ leading banks in Nepal to make receiving in-wallet remittances and payment transfers as easy as possible. IME Digital Solution’s wallet app IME Pay offers a wide range of services, and a convenient way to transfer money from wallet to wallet, gain interest, pay utility bills, and instantly process digital and QR-based payments. The company is working hard to reach 50% of the population that remain unbanked and prioritises financial inclusion to reach young people, the self-employed, migrant workers, and women. It has thousands of agents throughout Nepal promoting its services, including in remote villages.

Mr. Bikash Kumar Nahata, VP for Product & Innovation at IME Group, said:

“IME Digital Solution delightfully embraces the ‘Fintech and Regtech Global Finnovator Award 2022’. The award spotlights our continued effort to promote financial inclusion in Nepal, focusing on underbanked and unbanked populations. As the country is rapidly advancing toward infrastructural development, we are on a mission to create a financial ecosystem where every grassroots population can conveniently access formal financial services.”

Joasia E. Popowicz, Associate Editor of Central Banking, said:

“IME Digital Solution stood out for their combined technical excellence and efforts to promote financial inclusion. As well as partnering with UNCDF to design more inclusive and accessible financial assistance, IME Digital Solution is working with USAID, UK-Aid, Save The Children, and ActionAid Nepal to deliver need-based cash transfer services. I wish them the best of luck in their mission.”

Anti-money Laundering Technology Partner – FTS

Financial Transparency Solutions (FTS) has partnered with authorities such as banking supervisors in Monaco and the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority to offer an anti-money laundering, automated risk assessment tool. Over the last 12 months it has added a module that automates data collection. As well as providing software, officials have spoken of the wealth of industry expertise FTS provides. 

Garrett Dunker, CEO of Financial Transparency Solutions, said:

“FTS is delighted to receive Central Banking’s AML Technology Partner award. Through constructive cooperation with banking supervisor’s CIMA and Monaco’s SICCFIN during their usage of Strix™ AML, FTS has advanced risk scoring algorithms to more accurately identify risks within their banking sectors, and improved AML/CFT questionnaires for convenient form-filling experiences by banking institutions and increased data quality. Drawing from the off-the-shelf nature of the tool, these enhancements will benefit future Strix™ AML users in the banking supervision community. The recognition of this award affirms FTS’s commitment to support AML/CFT supervisors globally and is especially rewarding.”

Joasia E. Popowicz, Associate Editor of Central Banking, said:

“Central Banking heard very high praise from CIMA regarding the services and the expertise FTS provides in the fight against money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism. It was clear that FTS has built close relationships with authorities and has collaborated to further improve its tools.”

Technology Partner for Regulatory Compliance – Invoke

Invoke’s e-Regulatory software is a trusted partner working with evolving regulatory requirements and data models, towards ever more granular data collection and analysis. Invoke has partnered with authorities such as Bank of Israel, the Banque de France backed ACPR, and the National bank of Moldova.

Commenting on the award, Antoine Bourdais, Director of the Regulatory Division at Invoke, said:

“Invoke is honoured to accept the 2022 Technology Partner for Regulatory Compliance Award. We are delighted to see our efforts in developing pioneering technology for supervisory authorities recognised, and send our sincere thanks to our e-Regulatory clients and the Invoke teams involved in delivering these projects.

This award is the pinnacle of our decade-long vision to transform data collection and analysis for regulators by enabling them to more easily centralise, validate, transform and disseminate data. It is a pleasure to see our vision come to fruition, and to have our approach confirmed as a proven success.

We look forward to further strengthening e-Regulatory’s capabilities in analysing data collected in multiple formats, from multiple entities and across multiple periods, addressing this priority for supervisory authorities and cementing the software’s status as the backbone of their information systems.”

Joasia E. Popowicz, Associate Editor of Central Banking, said:

“Invoke clearly demonstrated a powerful and trusted regtech solution that streamlines data collection and analysis.”

Data Management Partner for Regulatory Compliance – Global Voice Group

Central banks, regulatory bodies, and government agencies face challenges to access reliable analytics from the mobile payments ecosystem. Global Voice Group uses data from telecom networks and mobile transaction streams to audit mobile money platforms, effectively oversee transactions and protect consumers in Africa. 

Commenting on the award, James Claude, CEO of GVG, said:

“Supporting governments in achieving optimal regulatory compliance through Big Data is at the heart of what we do. This award, which GVG thankfully receives today, bears testimony to the relevance of our core activity. The effective governance of Mobile Money services requires technological tools that not only offer measurement and monitoring features, but also leverage Big Data to provide government institutions and regulatory bodies with digital intelligence and reliable analytics. This is what our M3 solution is all about. By supporting governments’ decision-making in this way, M3 helps create a more secure and sustainable Mobile Money ecosystem, which in turn boosts financial inclusion.”

Joasia E. Popowicz, Associate Editor of Central Banking, said:

“Mobile banking data has been something of a blindspot for regulators. I was very impressed with Global Voice Group’s technology and vision. I wish James and the whole team the very best of luck.”

Cloud Solution Partner – Appvia

Appvia was embedded in the Bank of England, to take the institution from barely beginning their cloud journey straight to cloud-native. Data analysis that would normally take 16-25 days now only takes 50 minutes because of the Bank of England’s ability to leverage the elasticity of cloud in new ways, helping the bank become a global leader in data-driven policy change. 

Commenting on the award, Chief Operating Officer, Jay Keshur, said: 

“Appvia is honoured to achieve the Cloud Partner Solution award this year. At Appvia, we truly believe in helping organisations to become more cloud native, by providing a cloud platform and solutions that allows developers to iterate quickly on their products. It’s great to see enterprises recognise the benefits of DevOps and Kubernetes, and take steps to move as quickly as possible by partnering with us to help them on their journey.”

Joasia E. Popowicz, Associate Editor of Central Banking, said:

“Congratulations to Appvia for its robust approach to handling a sensitive transition to the cloud. Appvia’s strategy to focus on training teams, as well as setting up the technological infrastructure, contributes to the Bank of England leading data-driven policy.”

Central Bank Digital Currency Partner – Movmint

Movmint has the distinction of launching both the first and arguably most successful operational retail CBDC in the world. Since then, it has been working closely with the the Central Bank of The Bahamas on rolling out a phased service that prioritises resilience and stability. The central bank spoke of their working relationship in the highest terms. With the wealth of expertise and knowledge gained from their experience, Movmint is also advising central banks across the world on their CBDC plans. 

Commenting on the award, John C.H. Kim, Chief Strategy Officer & General Counsel, said:

“CBDCs represent a generational opportunity to enable humanity’s financially excluded with universal access to money and a new age of digital financial services. We at Movmint are immensely privileged to serve as partners to The Central Bank of The Bahamas in shaping this growing narrative through excellence in technology and collaboration across the financial ecosystem. Our award is a testament to Project Sand Dollar; a true example of how a public-private partnership, backed by years of research, policy and adoption strategies, can help reimagine the future of money.”

Joasia E. Popowicz, Associate Editor of Central Banking, said:

“The Central Bank of The Bahamas has the highest praise for the working relationship with Movmint. Central Banking was impressed by Movmint’s approach that quickly adapted to lessons learned during roll out. I look forward to learning about the contribution Movmint makes to CBDC experiments around the world.”

Payments Technology Partner – Digital Asset

Digital Asset ran CBDC interoperability experiments with the Banque de France and Liquidshare. It is also implementing cutting-edge smart contract technology at Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing and the Australian Securities Exchange. It previously worked with Bank for International Settlements and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority on green bond issuance technology. 

Kelly Mathieson, Chief Client Experience Officer at Digital Asset, said:

“Digital Asset is extremely pleased to receive the Payments Technology Partner Award. This award recognizes our organization’s continued efforts to support the successful implementation of CBDCs utilizing our core technology, Daml. We are grateful for the opportunity to work on these critical CBDC experiments with our partners and Central Banks, who support our vision and are demonstrating a clear shift from the philosophical to the global adoption of CBDCs.”

Joasia E. Popowicz, Associate Editor of Central Banking, said:

“Congratulations for Digital Asset for their leading work using smart contracts. As well as their work on CBDCs, Central Banking recognised projects improving payments efficiency and green bond issuance.”

Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence Partner – Symphony AyasdiAI 

Symphony AyasdiAI’s cutting-edge financial crime software allows regulated entities to conduct responsive transaction analysis.

Simon Moss, Chief Executive Officer, Symphony AyasdiAI, said:

“The AyasdiAI team is intensely focused on delivering the most-groundbreaking innovation to uncover crime that has been so elusive to traditional detection methods. The 2022 Central Banking Fintech and Regtech Award for innovations in AI and ML shows that the regulatory community is also now seeing that there is a better, more accurate and more cost-effective way of discovering crime. I’m proud of our team, and of the impact we’re having on helping our clients materially impact financial crime in their institutions. For example, using the same data of one client’s existing legacy system, we delivered an 80+ fold increase in detection, and a 70% false positive reduction because of the accuracy of that detection. So thank you for recognizing our innovations, the opportunity it offers our clients, and the potential it offers for our fight against those that seek to exploit the market.”

Joasia E. Popowicz, Associate Editor of Central Banking, said:

“We were impressed with Symphony AyasdiAI’s technology that keeps pace, and potentially ahead, of financial criminals. For regulators and financial institutions, this dynamic approach is the next generation of financial crime solutions.”