1 The State of Regtech in APAC - Evaluation of the Landscape & Market Opportunity for Regtech Companies The State of Regtech in APAC Evaluation of the Landscape & Market Opportunity for Regtech Companies 2021 2 The State of Regtech in APAC - Evaluation of the Landscape & Market Opportunity for Regtech Companies Disclaimer All Rights Reserved. This white paper has been commissioned by Enterprise Ireland to identify and analyse key trends in the Asia-Pacific regtech market. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the owner/publisher, Enterprise Ireland. The information and analysis presented in this report is based on a variety of sources including publications, journals and analysis of data that is part of proprietary research from Kapronasia as well as publicly available sources of information, such as government websites, academic and trade journals, and online media. The facts of this report are believed to be correct at the time of publication but cannot be guaranteed. Please note that the findings, conclusions and recommendations that Enterprise Ireland delivers will be based on information gathered in good faith from both primary and secondary sources, whose accuracy we are not always in a position to guarantee. As such Enterprise Ireland can accept no liability whatever for actions taken based on any information that may subsequently prove to be incorrect. 3 The State of Regtech in APAC - Evaluation of the Landscape & Market Opportunity for Regtech Companies Contents Foreword 5 About Enterprise Ireland 6 Enterprise Ireland’s RegTech Map & Portfolio 7 Executive Summary: The Asian Century 28 Introduction 30 A Developmental Divide 31 Extra-territorial Obligations 32 Development of Digital Economies in APAC 33 Digital Take-off in Asia 33 Asian Government and Businesses Recognize the Benefits of Digitalization 34 Digitalization is Uneven Across the Region 35 Asia as a Centre of Fintech 36 Key Financial Industry Regulation Drivers in Asia 41 Risks and Opportunities from New Technologies and Entrants 41 AML/CFT and Cybersecurity 41 Governance and Accountability 43 Extra-territorial Obligations 43 Developed/Emerging Economy Divide 44 Roadblocks and Challenges for Regtechs in APAC 45 Developed Economies 45 Case Study: Australia 48 Regtech Ease of Customer Acquisition in Australia 49 Developing Economies 50 Case Study: Philippines 51 Asian Regtech Solutions and Technology Review 53 Impact of Covid-19 55 Covid-19 in Asia Pacific 56 The Future for Fintechs in Asia Pacific in the post-Covid world 56 Conclusions 57 4 The APAC Regtech Bible - Evaluation of the Landscape & Market Opportunity for Irish RegTech Companies Country Chapters & Contents Chapter 1: Australia 59 Chapter 2: Hong Kong 88 Chapter 3: Singapore 116 Chapter 4: Mainland China 152 Chapter 5: Indonesia 178 Chapter 6: Malaysia 200 Chapter 7: Philippines 223 Chapter 8: Thailand 249 Chapter 9: Vietnam 273 Chapter 10: Japan 296 Enterprise Ireland FinTech & Financial Services, APAC Team APAC & Greater China Japan Mo Harvey Reiko Hiruma [email protected] [email protected] APAC & ANZ Korea Scott Patterson Hayoung Chun [email protected] [email protected] ASEA Vietnam Tiarnan McCaughan Dzung Nguyen [email protected] [email protected] ASEA Jannine Viray [email protected] 5 The State of Regtech in APAC - Evaluation of the Landscape & Market Opportunity for Regtech Companies Foreword When it comes to advancements in fintech, At Enterprise Ireland, we want our regtech the world is looking at Ireland. As a global hub companies to have global ambition. Traditionally, for finance, technology and investor activity, the trajectory of a European regtech company’s Ireland is a hotbed of fintech innovation, helping expansion has been in the UK, Europe and then the industry respond to challenges from the North America. However, a surge in regulatory digitization of banking to new payments models requirements across Asia-Pacific in recent years and ever-changing compliance requirements. has brought with it an explosion in the use of regtech by financial services firms to maintain Irish regtech companies have established a compliance. The development of digital economies world-class reputation for helping financial across Asia-Pacific will also be a boom for regtech services customers to deal with the increasingly in the region. With this, brings opportunities for complex and rapidly evolving regulation – as regtech companies, particularly those established well as continuous disruption and transformation in mature and highly regulated markets. – that characterises the industry today. As leaders in this space, they combine deep regulatory Mo Harvey expertise, with the technology leadership to be FinTech & Financial Services Lead, APAC (Hong Kong) found in one of the world’s foremost enterprise Scott Patterson software centres. FinTech & Financial Services Lead, APAC (Melbourne) As a result, global leaders in financial services, who need to balance compliance and risk with the need to transform their business model, choose to work with partners who can quickly design and implement sophisticated regtech solutions as new regulatory requirements emerge. Most of those regtech partners just so happen to be from Ireland. Acknowledgments This report would not have been possible without the incredible work of Kapronasia. We are so grateful to Zennon Kapron, Joe Jelinek and the entire Kapronasia team for their tireless effort and dedication to this project. A very special thank you to the FinTech Association of Japan for kindly contributing the Japan chapter. A particular thanks to Mr. Takeshi Kito of the FToJ for his help in compiling this chapter. We look forward to our continuing collaboration and bridging East and West fintech ecosystems. 6 The State of Regtech in APAC - Evaluation of the Landscape & Market Opportunity for Regtech Companies About Enterprise Ireland Enterprise Ireland is As one of the world’s most active fintech investors, Enterprise Ireland works with over 200 fintech portfolio companies around the world helping the Irish Government’s them enter and scale new markets. Investment, Trade and We proudly invest in, support and partner with the most innovative Irish companies through all stages Development Agency. of their growth and connect them to international customers and ecosystems across multiple industries and markets through our network of over 30 offices around the world. If you are an organisation based in Asia-Pacific looking for world-class fintech solutions, we are always looking to expand our global partnership network and would be happy to work with you. How we work Develop Understand Shortlist Introduce Partner We invest in a Industry experts We assemble a We make direct We facilitate and pipeline of world- in our international shortlist of qualified introductions to progress your class innovation and offices work with Irish partners who the right people business partnership help develop cutting- you collaboratively match and solve your in Irish companies, with innovative Irish edge Irish companies to understand your business problems. enhancing and companies. and build global business challenges. simplifying your capabilities. experience. Discover what our fintech portfolio can offer you and your business by getting in touch with one of our team. Enterprise Ireland’s expert fintech advisers will work to understand your needs and connecting you to the fintech company that can best meet them. 7 The State of Regtech in APAC - Evaluation of the Landscape & Market Opportunity for Regtech Companies RegTech Map 2021 AML & KYC Transaction Client Life Cycle Legal Tech Monitoring & Reporting Management Identity & Authentication Communications Accounts & Audit SupTech Regulatory Risk Intelligence & Analytics Compliance, Conduct & Risk Management Information & CyberSecurity If you are interested in learning more about any of the below companies, and Ireland’s regtech capability, please visit www.irishadvantage.com/fintech or submit your query to https://irishadvantage.com/contact-us 8 The State of Regtech in APAC - Evaluation of the Landscape & Market Opportunity for Regtech Companies AML & KYC Transaction Monitoring & Reporting Leading the market in AML Transaction Monitoring software for B2B Challenger Banks and Payments companies. Their software is designed by compliance professionals, for compliance professionals, regularly tested and updated with working groups. DX Compliance believes in making AML compliance a competitive advantage. www.dxcompliance.com ID-Pal is an off-the-shelf, end-to-end KYC solution. They enable businesses to verify the identity of customers simply, securely and conveniently. Using advanced mobile technologies, ID-Pal reduces the cost and risk associated with customer onboarding whilst removing friction from the user experience. It’s easier, cheaper, faster and more reliable than either manual processing or building a custom solution. With ID-Pal businesses can onboard their customers either in-person or remotely in just a few minutes. www.id-pal.com Kyckr offers global company intelligence from the most legally authoritative and compliant sources in the world. They connect to over 180 company registries globally, across 120 countries and more than