Abstract
On 11 September 2019, the Senate resolved to establish a Select Committee on Financial Technology and Regulatory Technology. The committee will inquire and report on the following matters:
a. the size and scope of the opportunity for Australian consumers and business arising from financial technology (FinTech) and regulatory technology (RegTech);
b. barriers to the uptake of new technologies in the financial sector;
c. the progress of FinTech facilitation reform and the benchmarking of comparable global regimes;
d. current RegTech practices and the opportunities for the RegTech industry to strengthen compliance but also reduce costs;
e. the effectiveness of current initiatives in promoting a positive environment for FinTech and RegTech start-ups; and
f. any related matters.
The committee is to present its final report on or before the first sitting day in October 2020.
This submission provides a case study of Fin Tech as a 'related matter' falling within the terms of reference of the Committee.
Summary
1.1. Blockchain systems are currently under consideration to register and trade in physical assets, that will likely integrate with Fin Tech or have implications for it.
1.2. Fractionalisation of land that is traded via blockchain will require widespread interoperability of land registries and land administration infrastructure, financiers, insurance companies, bodies corporate and local authorities.
1.3.The creation and use of ‘coins’ on a blockchain representing a proportion of a registered lot of real property creates two parallel registries: blockchain and land titles.
1.4.The existence of a coin and the land it is attached to, is likely to constitute two different types of property at the same time: real and personal property. The personal property is best characterised as a financial product.
1.5.Inevitably, rendering land ‘liquid’ through blockchain (or other) technologies, has implications for FinTech: necessarily integrated financial technologies.
1.6.Potentially global capital movement in support of the trade in fractionalised interests in land raises multiple issues for regulators.
1.7.Although Australia has not implemented a system of fractionalised interests, regulators should be contemplating their place in the overarching ecosystem of FinTech.
a. the size and scope of the opportunity for Australian consumers and business arising from financial technology (FinTech) and regulatory technology (RegTech);
b. barriers to the uptake of new technologies in the financial sector;
c. the progress of FinTech facilitation reform and the benchmarking of comparable global regimes;
d. current RegTech practices and the opportunities for the RegTech industry to strengthen compliance but also reduce costs;
e. the effectiveness of current initiatives in promoting a positive environment for FinTech and RegTech start-ups; and
f. any related matters.
The committee is to present its final report on or before the first sitting day in October 2020.
This submission provides a case study of Fin Tech as a 'related matter' falling within the terms of reference of the Committee.
Summary
1.1. Blockchain systems are currently under consideration to register and trade in physical assets, that will likely integrate with Fin Tech or have implications for it.
1.2. Fractionalisation of land that is traded via blockchain will require widespread interoperability of land registries and land administration infrastructure, financiers, insurance companies, bodies corporate and local authorities.
1.3.The creation and use of ‘coins’ on a blockchain representing a proportion of a registered lot of real property creates two parallel registries: blockchain and land titles.
1.4.The existence of a coin and the land it is attached to, is likely to constitute two different types of property at the same time: real and personal property. The personal property is best characterised as a financial product.
1.5.Inevitably, rendering land ‘liquid’ through blockchain (or other) technologies, has implications for FinTech: necessarily integrated financial technologies.
1.6.Potentially global capital movement in support of the trade in fractionalised interests in land raises multiple issues for regulators.
1.7.Although Australia has not implemented a system of fractionalised interests, regulators should be contemplating their place in the overarching ecosystem of FinTech.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Parliament of Australia |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Publication status | Published - Jan 2020 |
