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SHWETA SHARMA
Central Bank Governor Dr Alvin Hilaire underscored the importance of overcoming regulatory hurdles and challenges for a smooth digital transition.
“Digitalisation is important for TT and the rest of the world. It is inevitable,” he said.
Hilaire was speaking at the TT Stock Exchange capital market conference on Friday at Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain.
He said as regulators, it is important to manage the overall health of financial systems more inclusively.
“Central bank is focusing more on market conduct, redress through its financial services and financial literacy.”
In the panel discussion, Unlocking Digitalisation Opportunities for a Resilient Caribbean Economy, he shared five ways regulatory challenges can be addressed.
The five areas he identified are – managing the transition process, working with the public sector, managing public expectations, overcoming biases and streamlining the process.
“It is important to understand that financial institutions are at different levels, some at cutting-edge and some at the basic level. Therefore as a regulator body, it is necessary to work cohesively across the board to ensure a smooth transition. We cannot have a one-size-fits-all approach,” he said.
Hilaire added that this can be challenging and also involves some risks.
“This can have cybersecurity risks for some institutions as they are not well prepared. It is something we have to deal with.”
He emphasised the importance of financial inclusion. He said that the digital economy could lead to financial exclusion for some people as they may not have access to technology or resources such as mobile phones.
Another area of focus for CBTT is working with the public sector to address outdated legislation.
Hilaire said regulators and financial institutions work closely with the public sector as everyone is interlinked, and, therefore, it is necessary to address these legislation challenges to ensure a smooth transition.
He added that collaboration is key. This means embracing the digitalisation process and tapping into opportunities to streamline.
“Technology is helping us at the Central Bank streamline how we interact with companies.
“For example, we recently issued cybersecurity guidelines to the financial sector. These are simple, printable PDF forms.
“Everything is going to be online so that we can get things moving quickly. We have to embrace a world that is forward-looking and be more flexible.”
Also speaking at the panel discussion, Minister in the Finance Ministry Brian Manning said the Government’s main goal is to get more people access to online services and making online payments.
“We also want to develop a system where Fintech, especially in terms of SMEs, have an opportunity to build within this economy,” he said. “We also recently launched the One Fintech Avenue, and we expect to see more and more of the state giving these technology companies, especially in finance, an opportunity to grow.”
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