Hi SupTech Community,
Welcome to the 35th issue of the Cambridge SupTech Lab bi-weekly LinkedIn newsletter, a source for updates on recent innovations, breakthroughs, opportunities, upcoming events in the suptech field, and news from the Cambridge SupTech Lab team.
If you would like to flag any items for inclusion in the next newsletter, please email us at cambridgesuptechlab@jbs.cam.ac.uk. Occasionally, we email our global community of supervisors, data scientists, vendors, and suptech experts to share event invites, news, or new courses—subscribe here.
This edition includes news from the AUSTRAC, Bank of Spain, Central Banking, Dutch Central Bank, Financial Action Task Force, Global Government Fintech, International Organization of Securities Commissions, Monetary Authority of Singapore, Proto, Toronto Centre, and others.
Suptech Innovations
Central Banking Awards 2025 winners announced. The awards recognise outstanding achievements in a year marked by moderating inflation, challenging geopolitics and ongoing technological transformation. Several suptech-related initiatives received recognition, including the Reserve Bank of India for digital transformation excellence and the Bank of Finland/Fin-FSA for their innovative credit register and cloud-based analytics platform. Other notable winners include FTS for regulatory technology services, SecAlliance for cyber security initiatives, the Bank of Israel for its communications initiative known as “the equalizer,” and the Bank of Italy for risk management. The 2025 awards highlight significant improvements in governance, operations, communications, economics, currency management, cyber security, reserves handling and market infrastructure across the central banking community. Read more here.
Central Banking & Technology
Proto and Winnow partner to enhance scam detection for financial authorities. Suptech vendors, Proto and Winnow have joined forces to improve regulatory scam detection by connecting consumer complaints with social media monitoring. The partnership enhances Proto’s AI-driven system at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, which processes 500,000 consumer interactions monthly, by adding Winnow’s social media analytics capabilities. This integration allows authorities to correlate official complaints with online discourse to identify fraudulent schemes more rapidly. Both companies, as founding members of the SupTech Industry Group, continue to advance suptech solutions for agencies worldwide. Read more here.
AUSTRAC unveils artificial intelligence (AI) transparency statement to combat financial crime. Australia’s financial intelligence agency, AUSTRAC, has published its AI Transparency Statement, detailing how it employs AI to enhance detection of money laundering, terrorism financing and financial crimes. The statement outlines current AI applications, including generative AI tools for research, and future workplace productivity and analytics initiatives, all while maintaining human-in-the-loop oversight. AUSTRAC emphasises its commitment to transparent and responsible AI use that aligns with Digital Transformation Agency guidelines while ensuring compliance with privacy and national security requirements. Read more here.
The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) seeks feedback on AI impact in capital markets. IOSCO has published a consultation report examining AI in capital markets and its implications for global investors. The report identifies five key findings, including AI’s growing role in decision-making processes like robo-advising and algorithmic trading, operational automation, and emerging risks such as malicious AI applications and third-party dependencies. IOSCO notes that industry practices and regulatory approaches are evolving, with organisations either adapting existing frameworks or developing specialised ones for AI oversight. Public feedback on this report is invited until 11 April 2025. Read more here.
Financial Action Task Force (FATF) opens crucial consultation on anti-money laundering standards revision. FATF has launched a consultation process to update its Guidance on Anti-Money Laundering/Counter-Terrorism Financing and Financial Inclusion. This revision follows proposed amendments to FATF’s recently revised standards to strengthen proportionate approaches supporting financial inclusion. The guidance document has been instrumental in helping national regulators develop policies that balance financial integrity with inclusion objectives. Financial inclusion experts are urged to participate in this consultation before the 4 April 2025 deadline, as the outcomes could significantly impact millions of people currently excluded from essential financial services. Read more here.
Singapore and Vietnam strengthen capital markets and digital assets cooperation. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the State Securities Commission of Vietnam (SSC) have signed a letter of intent to enhance collaboration on capital markets regulation and digital asset frameworks. The agreement emphasises capacity building, particularly to support Vietnam’s development of digital asset regulations, alongside information sharing on regulatory approaches, anti-money laundering measures, and supervision practices. This partnership aims to protect market integrity while promoting cross-border connectivity between the two nations. Read more here.
Bank of Spain (BdE) publishes study on the use of machine learning for financial risk detection for supervisors. The BdE has released a paper examining how suptech and machine learning can strengthen financial oversight through early warning systems. The study demonstrates how natural language processing and network analysis can detect anomalies in Spain’s corporate system, identifying individual and systemic risks. Researchers applied sentiment analysis to spot company-specific issues while using network metrics to monitor broader systemic threats. The paper highlights how these technologies enable supervisors to complement traditional balance sheet data with insights from text sources, allowing for earlier detection of potential financial distress. Read more here.
Dutch Central Bank’s (DNB) Data Science Hub (DSH) reports strong growth in 2024. The DNB Data Science Hub has published its 2024 Annual Report, documenting significant expansion and ambitious projects. The Hub successfully delivered seven projects across six divisions with high client satisfaction. As DNB’s central data science resource, DSH employs a hub-and-spoke model to provide guidance and project execution throughout the organisation. Internal activities included Open Source Lunches, workshops and the SupTech Horizon event, while external engagement featured participation in hackathons, tech sprints, and other events. These initiatives have strengthened DNB’s internal capabilities and connections with the broader data science and suptech community. Read more here.
Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) and Open Ownership launch global network to boost data transparency. GLEIF and Open Ownership have established the Global Open Data Integration Network (GODIN) to enhance data interoperability across sectors. The initiative aims to align open data with global frameworks, including the Legal Entity Identifier System. Member organisations will benefit from improved data connectivity through LEI integration while contributing to a more transparent ecosystem. Read more here.
Myanmar Central Bank unveils national QR standard for digital payments. The Central Bank of Myanmar has launched MMQR, a national QR code standard designed to modernise the country’s financial infrastructure. The system will enable secure international transactions while supporting domestic payments for taxes, utilities, tourism and small businesses. Developed as part of Myanmar’s National Payment System Strategy, MMQR aims to expand digital banking access across the country, particularly in areas with limited traditional banking services but high mobile phone usage. Read more here.
United Kingdom (UK) government plans to abolish Payment Systems Regulator (PSR), transfer its functions to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This consolidation aims to reduce regulatory complexity for payment firms that engage with multiple regulators. The PSR, which oversees faster payments and major card schemes, will maintain its statutory powers until parliament passes the required legislation. The decision forms part of the government’s deregulatory agenda aimed at stimulating economic growth. Read more here.
Events
Toronto Centre to host a virtual executive panel on financial resilience amid global uncertainty on Apr 15th. Toronto Centre will convene financial experts via Zoom to discuss navigating global challenges. The panel will address how supervisors can respond to geopolitical tensions, economic turbulence and reduced development aid. The session targets financial supervisors and regulators from developing countries, alongside professionals in global development, foreign aid and monetary policy sectors. Speakers will explore crisis preparedness, deregulation implications and strategies for maintaining financial inclusion during uncertain times. Read more here.
Toronto Centre to deliver Certified Financial Supervisor Level 2: Effective Supervision Programme from 7-11 April. This five-half-day virtual course, to be held via zoom, addresses supervisory improvements following the 2023 bank failures. The programme examines risk monitoring, stress testing, business model analysis and the application of corrective powers. Sessions will explore supervisory empowerment and effectiveness measurement while addressing challenges related to unclear mandates, inadequate authority and resource constraints. The training aims to strengthen financial oversight by promoting best practices that identify and address risks before they become serious problems at financial institutions. Read more here.
