NYDFS appears to be building RegTech solutions to improve its supervising capabilities

The New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), the state’s financial and cryptocurrency regulator, appears to be building RegTech (regulatory technology) solutions to improve its supervising capabilities.

The NYDFS is seeking a director to help design, build, and manage a program to facilitate the testing of RegTech solutions that have the potential to “significantly” improve its supervising capabilities, including those related to regulated entities. 

The successful candidate could take inspiration from other regulators’ RegTech efforts, including the Bank of England, said the NYDFS. The Bank of England, the U.K.’s central bank, has been developing a RegTech strategy “to improve its efficiency and effectiveness as a regulator.”

The central bank recently said that regulatory reporting costs the U.K. banking industry a minimum of £2 - £4.5 billion (~$2.6 - $5.9 billion) per year. Therefore, it is working in collaboration with the Financial Conduct Authority and industry, to cut costs and improve operations.

The Bank of England further said that in recent years it has piloted new approaches, including proofs of concept in areas such as natural language processing and machine-readable rules.

The NYDFS seems to be building something similar. The job posting says that candidates should have expertise related to innovation methodologies such as techsprints, hackathons, proof of concept testing, accelerators and incubators. They should also have experience related to the supervisory functions of regulators, including examinations and other methods employed by regulators to ensure compliance with regulations. 

The closing date for applications is Dec. 30, 2019.