Financial regulation initiative to support UK economy

A new initiative to shape future regulatory landscapes and the use of advanced technologies in the sector  - The Financial Regulation Innovation Lab (FRIL) – is being led by a partnership including the University of Glasgow, FinTech Scotland and the University of Strathclyde. The project has been funded specifically by the Glasgow City Region Innovation Accelerator programme to deliver a wide-ranging, ambitious research agenda led by, and for the use of, the financial sector.

The Financial Regulation Innovation Lab (FRIL) will work closely with industry participants, including large established financial institutions, the fintech community, academics, voluntary organisations and regulators across the UK - with researchers covering various aspects of financial regulation, including:

• Explainable AI applications for environmental, social and governance (ESG) risk management
• Simplifying ESG regulation compliance through explainable intelligent automation
• Using automation and AI to combat money laundering
• Synthetic data for financial regulation innovation
• Generative AI for improved ESG reporting and monitoring in financial services

Professor Eleanor Shaw, head of the Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, said the school welcomed the opportunity to be a founding partner alongside colleagues in Fintech Scotland and the University of Strathclyde to deliver FRIL. “The opportunity to transform the regulatory landscape is remarkable and we are excited to work with partners across all sectors to deliver a collaborative centre of excellence for cutting edge developments in financial regulation."

Echoing her thoughts, Professor David Hillier, Associate Principal and Executive Dean of the University of Strathclyde Business School, added: “We have significant capabilities across the university in emerging technologies including AI, space and quantum, which we look forward to leveraging through FRIL. We look forward to continuing our work with industry, policy makers, regulators and innovative SME's to drive actionable solutions and deliver on FRILs ambitious agenda.”

Stephen Ingledew OBE, Chair of FinTech Scotland, said: “Once more, FinTech Scotland is taking proactive measures to showcase the effectiveness of how a cluster approach can accelerate the UK’s ability to seize competitive advantage in the future of financial regulation and fintech innovation FRIL will allow us to continue to endorse the opportunity from the fintech sector to support growth across the UK economy.”

More information online