FintechAlliance.ph released a handbook outlining the standards for the financial technology (fintech) sector in a bid to unify the regulators, policy makers and stakeholders.
In a statement over the weekend, the fintech group said that the fintech taxonomy that carries the title “Unchartered Beyond” includes standards for nomenclatures, definitions and classifications of concepts that are yet to be explored by the industry.
“This publication sheds light on how the legal and regulatory structures of the local financial sector apply to both established actors and to fintech services,” the manual said.
It is edited by FintechAlliance.ph chairman Angelito M. Villanueva, who also serves as executive vice president and chief innovation and inclusion officer of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.
“In the absence of a distinct legal regime for fintech, regulators may fall back on the norms applied to financial institutions. But issues of fit and consistency arise when taxonomies embodied in old laws are applied to new technologies,” the handbook added.
Among the concerns the fintech group seeks to address with the handbook are inconsistency of terms, overlapping jurisdictions over semantically similar concepts, concepts not covered by existing taxonomies, implementation mismatch and policy conflict.
FintechAlliance.ph is also hoping that the initiative will help in establishing new rules or amendments to existing laws.
The manual discusses real-life examples of conflict between players and regulators, current regulatory framework and legal analyses of identified functional categories—including payments, remittances, lending and asset management, among others.
Villanueva told the BusinessMirror it was imperative that stakeholders in the fintech sector follow certain standards.
“Given that it is (fintech) an ever-evolving space, players and regulators are of the same page to ensure consistency and understanding,” he said.
The FintechAlliance.ph official shared the group was also working on a second edition of the manual, which is eyed to be released by fourth quarter this year.
Earlier this month, FintechAlliance.ph said it signed a memorandum of understanding Asean Financial Innovation Network to promote the use of API Exchange. APIX is an online FinTech marketplace and sandbox developed by the Asean network.
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