APAC Regulations

Asia Pacific Foraying Into 2024

As we draw the curtains on a busy 2023, analysts largely predict a continued rollercoaster ride into 2024. What remains certain is that the wave of regulatory rewrites will take place regardless - both across Asia and globally and so preparation is key to weatherproofing for these changes. To increase such awareness, Cappitech has held multiple sessions with market participants via different mediums including webinars, industry events, bilateral customer meetings, topical working groups - and the momentum continues into Q1 2024.

Korea Reporting in Focus

KRX, designated Korea's Trade Repository operator by Financial Services Commission (FSC), recently issued a consult with plans to adopt UTI, UPI and CDE around 2025 to align with international organizations per CPMI-IOSCO technical guidance. To be actioned in two phases, we expect significant harmonization towards the existing G20 rewrites which will eventually bode well for global firms in the long run, albeit language constraints do exist.

MAS Aligns Rewrite Date with ASIC

After taking industry feedback into consideration, the Singapore regulator announced in late November that it will align 21st October 2024 as the go-live date for the MAS rewrite, like ASIC. This will help facilitate the industry's preparation and resource planning into 2024. They have also flagged the importance of reporting entities to start preparations. As thought leaders we understand the importance of having the right knowledge to prepare for the rewrites. For example, in Q4 we increased customer engagement and contributed to ISDA's December MAS webinar and we plan to continue similar initiatives in Q1 2024.

Resiliency Cannot Be Underestimated

Although we all know the importance of "data quality", what receives less attention is "resiliency". This means that, not only data quality is crucial, but how you ensure your technological stack, reporting workflow, and remediation plans, are all entrenched in your operations to combat market conditions. To date, we have seen more firms being questioned by APAC regulators on this aspect, with some firms facing severe ramifications of failing to satisfy reporting standards. Eventually, governing authorities expect a high level of transparency and accountability across reporting participants, so this means a mix of top data quality and regulatory acumen and operational resiliency in your business. Contact us to find out how we are helping customers drive improvements in this.

Embracing Innovations

Additionally, we have also seen increased discussions on adopting new technology to support regulatory reporting. Some firms have introduced machine learning to replace a subset of roles previously played by humans, while some are delving into predictive trend analysis to optimize operations. Some are also tentatively exploring Generative AI to help in the line of regulatory compliance. We welcome discussions with our customers on this topic, as we are actively exploring ways to harness these technologies. This involves streamlining existing services and introducing new features, all aimed at assisting our clients in effectively monitoring their compliance.

S&P Global provides industry-leading data, software and technology platforms and managed services to tackle some of the most difficult challenges in financial markets. We help our customers better understand complicated markets, reduce risk, operate more efficiently and comply with financial regulation.

This article was published by S&P Global Market Intelligence and not by S&P Global Ratings, which is a separately managed division of S&P Global.