fscom Director Alison Donnelly, FCA Chief Executive Nikhil Rathi and fscom Chairperson Alex Lee pictured in Belfast.
Financial and regulatory technology leaders in Northern Ireland have come together to showcase the sector to Financial Conduct Authority Chief Executive Nikhil Rathi.
Rathi, who has led the UK financial regulator since October 2020, met with leaders from NI-based companies who are members of industry association FinTech NI, including FinTrU, Datactics and AuditComply.
The event was hosted by leading specialist financial regulation consulting firm fscom at their headquarters in Belfast.
The local fintech and regtech leaders set out both the strength of the sector currently in Northern Ireland, and the regulatory challenges facing financial services institutions here.
Now generating over £392 million in annual GVA from fintech, Northern Ireland was one of ten UK areas found to be producing high growth fintech companies in the Independent Strategic Review of UK Fintech 2021. The region’s leading capabilities in regtech were identified as a significant strength for the local ecosystem in the NI FinTech Sector Strategy produced by FinTech NI in the same year.
At the meeting, Rathi set out the FCA’s priorities as an organisation and highlighted the benefits to industry and the regulator of supporting innovation by promoting solutions to complex regulatory challenges.
FCA Chief Executive Nikhil Rathi said:
“There is a dynamic ecosystem of financial institutions and fintech firms in Northern Ireland, with vast expertise. The opportunity to hear directly from the firms and gain insights into the strengths and priorities of the sector is invaluable.”
“The FCA has built a world-leading reputation for regulatory innovation. We pioneered the Regulatory Sandbox with UK firms, now copied around the world. We are the first regulator to directly support early and high growth potential firms. We value the support and input of each of the member organisations we met today and wish to thank FinTech NI and our host fscom.”
fscom Chairperson Alex Lee added:
“We are delighted to have hosted Nikhil Rathi at our fscom offices in Belfast and introduced him to some of the local success stories that the NI fintech sector has to offer. As the financial and regulatory sector continues to grow very strongly here, the FCA continues to be a vital institution that is heavily relied upon both to ensure financial markets function well and to give founders and CEOs a clear understanding of how their business can grow and expand while remaining compliant.”
“As a governance, risk, and compliance consultancy, we are encouraged to see this level of engagement between the regulator with the industry and have no doubt today’s session will bolster Northern Ireland’s fintech sector even further.”