Happy #TechTuesday! This week I am talking regulation with a very special guest, a true powerhouse in a human and one that I am incredibly honored to call my friend - Jelena McWilliams, Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Board of Directors.
As we think about the intersection of technology and financial services, there are a lot of components to success and true scale. One key part of the ecosystem that is a crucial participant is that of the regulator. As such, Jelena's perspective is one that I have been wanting to highlight for some time. In her experience in the U.S. Senate, in the banking world, and now in the FDIC, Jelena has had a front row seat to the world of regulation, and has seen first hand the role it plays in supporting or stymieing innovation.
When I asked Jelena about the role of regulation in the future of fintech, she responded that it was a crucial question for all regulators to consider. Anything that is new is innately risky, and with the massive amount of innovation coming out of the fintech space, that risk creates apprehension on the regulatory side. In response to this concern, Jelena encourages fellow regulators to take a more agile and open minded approach and to look at new ideas from the perspective of harnessing new technology and systems for the greater good. As always, Jelena's perspective is a breath of fresh air and I left our conversation feeling more inspired than ever.
So how can regulators and fintech work together to keep innovation moving forward? By coming to an "equilibrium" that includes equal effort and collaboration on all sides. By acknowledging the risk of new innovations, appropriately regulating them, and then managing them from the company side.
This is a truly revolutionary time, and the future of the space in large part depends on the ability of regulators to responsibly allow innovation to flourish.
In Jelena's words,
"There is so much good that can come from allowing innovation and entrepreneurship to come through our systems and change the way we look at things. We need to be openminded to how we look at innovation, to accept risk, and to regulate new ideas appropriately. This is the impact we're leaving on the generations to come."
Tune into our full conversation to learn more, I assure you, you will leave as inspired as I did.