SENATE SELECT COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY AND REGULATORY TECHNOLOGY

TOWNSVILLE-BASED Senator, Susan McDonald, is part of a Senate Select Committee which will investigate developments in financial technology (FinTech) and regulatory technology (RegTech) and how businesses, consumers and government bodies can benefit.

The Select Committee on Financial Technology and Regulatory Technology will undertake a comprehensive inquiry into these developments and report by the first sitting day in October 2020. The committee will examine issues including:

• the size and scope of the opportunity for Australian consumers and business arising from financial technology and regulatory technology;
• barriers to the uptake of new technologies in the financial sector;
• the progress of FinTech facilitation reform and the benchmarking of comparable global regimes;
• current RegTech practices and the opportunities for the RegTech industry to strengthen compliance but also reduce costs; and
• the effectiveness of current initiatives in promoting a positive environment for FinTech and RegTech start-ups.
Senator McDonald has asked Queensland businesses to make submissions to the inquiry, especially start-ups in the FinTech and RegTech sectors.

To assist submitters, the committee has set out some of the factors facing the FinTech sector in an issues paper, available at: www.aph.gov.au/senate_FinRegtech.
At this early stage, from informal feedback and early submissions, the committee sees five major themes emerging:
• access to capital;
• skills;
• taxation;
• regulation (including specific FinTech regulations); and
• culture.

“We want to create more jobs in fintech right here in Australia, and that will only happen if we are competitive as a nation,” said Senator McDonald.
“Australia is always competing for capital and the ability to bring new ideas to market. We want our ideas to be exported to the world. Fintech is crucial to Australia’s future prosperity, jobs creation, and technology innovation.”

The committee invites submissions addressing the terms of reference and any aspects of the issues paper by December 31, 2019 from business, academics, civil society, government and individuals before moving to public hearings.

Information about the inquiry, including full terms of reference and public submissions, is available at: www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Financial_Technology_and_Regulatory_Technology/FinancialRegulatoryTech

For information about the inquiry process or making a submission, contact the committee
secretariat on (02) 6277 3535 or fintech.sen@aph.gov.au.

For media comment, contact the office of Senator Andrew Bragg, Chair of the committee, on (02) 9159 9320 or Julian Tomlinson (Sen McDonald) on 0421 059 187