CORPORATE FINANCE
Cambodia . In the middle are the emergent and rapidly growing economies , like Vietnam , Indonesia , Thailand , and the Philippines .
“ This bifurcation of developed and emerging economies gives rise to very different financial and regulatory environments . In developed economies , the regtech uptake is driven by a sophisticated financial ecosystem and a complex regulatory environment and is due to the need for governance and accountability , emergence of new market participants and security concerns arising from disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence and distributed ledger technology .
“ In developing economies , regtech uptake is driven by the sector ’ s promise in helping to create financial inclusion , and is reliant on business cases and under-resourced regulators in these markets . Market interest for regtech solutions in these economies is not as strong as their developed counterparts because of regulatory inertia and a marked difference in fundamental behaviours and attitudes towards regtech .
“ Developing economies will mature over time – while technology ecosystems in developed and developing economies will continue to evolve at an increasingly varying pace , given differing regulatory drivers for regtech adoption .”
Regtech opportunity in APAC The rate of adoption has also been directly related to the availability of mobile internet coverage across the region , and it is transforming Southeast Asia .
Just over a decade ago , four in five Southeast Asians had no internet connectivity and limited access to the internet . Today , there are 360 million internet users in the region , and 90 % of them connect to the internet primarily through their mobile
“ THE ASIA PACIFIC REGION IS VERY DIVERSE IN REGTECH NEEDS , SINCE MATURE AND EMERGING ECONOMIES ARE AT VARYING LEVELS OF DEVELOPMENT ”
SCOTT PATTERSON ENTERPRISE IRELAND ’ S APAC FINTECH AND FINANCIAL SERVICES LEAD
phones . This has spurred an ' internet economy ' which continues to grow at an unprecedented pace .
However , APAC as a whole still lags behind Europe and the United States when it comes to regtech , and Patterson believes it is vital that the region ‘ catches up ’, particularly based on current growth .
“ The global regtech market is forecasted to grow from US $ 6.3 billion in 2020 to US $ 16.0 billion by 2025 , a rate of over 20 % per year , with APAC expected to have the highest growth rate over this period ,” he says .
64 October 2021