Today’s infographic from Raconteur offers a glimpse into the world of regtech, and how it can help financial services firms in finding efficient, cost-effective methods to comply with regulatory standards.
What is Regtech?
Following the financial crisis of 2008, the finance industry was hit with a number of new regulations designed to reduce risk and prevent fraud. Finance companies who fail to comply with these stringent regulations can face steep fines, but failing to find efficient ways to stay compliant can also impact the bottom line. Regtech fills this gap with tech-driven solutions for financial companies to cut costs and streamline processes, while guarding against fraud and cybersecurity risks. They can remain compliant without sacrificing customer engagement, allowing them to continue to grow their businesses.
How does Regtech work?
Regtech solutions usually operate as cloud computing or software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications, offering companies a plug-and-play solution to their regulatory woes. This process might look something like the following: Emerging technologies like data analytics, artificial intelligence, and distributed ledgers fuel these regtech solutions, allowing them to collate relevant big data sets and analyze them using sophisticated algorithms.
How can Regtech work for me?
Not all regtech solutions are created equal – different software is coded to look for different things, so companies need to select the right suite of regtech solutions for their unique challenges. Just a few of these options show the need for different applications:
Account verification These applications help companies gather information about customers to prevent fraudulent accounts. Examples include Trunomi, a company that manages consent for personal customer data; or PassFort, which automates the collection and storage of data for due diligence. Monitoring Companies like IdentityMind Global provide risk management for digital transactions. Reporting Companies like Suade help financial institutions to compile and submit required regulatory reports.
These examples are just the tip of the iceberg. As maintaining compliance grows in complexity, regulation technology will rise to meet the challenge, and so too the regtech budgets must grow to help companies keep up with demanding regulations.
The Costs of Regulation
Regtech funding has increased steadily over the past few years. 2017 saw more than $1 billion invested in the space – triple the investment from the preceding five years. However, 2018 promises to dwarf these figures, with more than half a billion dollars invested In the first quarter alone. Perhaps the motivation for investors digging into regtech has something to do with the high costs of neglecting it. US Bancorp was forced to pay $613 million in penalties for their flawed anti-money-laundering scheme and violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, while Commonwealth Bank of Australia shelled out more than $500 million for similar penalties. Financial regulations can make or break a finance firm – and given the rapidly increasing number of regtech providers entering the space, it seems there’s no shortage of solutions for forward-thinking firms.
on But fast forward to the end of last week, and SVB was shuttered by regulators after a panic-induced bank run. So, how exactly did this happen? We dig in below.
Road to a Bank Run
SVB and its customers generally thrived during the low interest rate era, but as rates rose, SVB found itself more exposed to risk than a typical bank. Even so, at the end of 2022, the bank’s balance sheet showed no cause for alarm.
As well, the bank was viewed positively in a number of places. Most Wall Street analyst ratings were overwhelmingly positive on the bank’s stock, and Forbes had just added the bank to its Financial All-Stars list. Outward signs of trouble emerged on Wednesday, March 8th, when SVB surprised investors with news that the bank needed to raise more than $2 billion to shore up its balance sheet. The reaction from prominent venture capitalists was not positive, with Coatue Management, Union Square Ventures, and Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund moving to limit exposure to the 40-year-old bank. The influence of these firms is believed to have added fuel to the fire, and a bank run ensued. Also influencing decision making was the fact that SVB had the highest percentage of uninsured domestic deposits of all big banks. These totaled nearly $152 billion, or about 97% of all deposits. By the end of the day, customers had tried to withdraw $42 billion in deposits.
What Triggered the SVB Collapse?
While the collapse of SVB took place over the course of 44 hours, its roots trace back to the early pandemic years. In 2021, U.S. venture capital-backed companies raised a record $330 billion—double the amount seen in 2020. At the time, interest rates were at rock-bottom levels to help buoy the economy. Matt Levine sums up the situation well: “When interest rates are low everywhere, a dollar in 20 years is about as good as a dollar today, so a startup whose business model is “we will lose money for a decade building artificial intelligence, and then rake in lots of money in the far future” sounds pretty good. When interest rates are higher, a dollar today is better than a dollar tomorrow, so investors want cash flows. When interest rates were low for a long time, and suddenly become high, all the money that was rushing to your customers is suddenly cut off.” Source: Pitchbook Why is this important? During this time, SVB received billions of dollars from these venture-backed clients. In one year alone, their deposits increased 100%. They took these funds and invested them in longer-term bonds. As a result, this created a dangerous trap as the company expected rates would remain low. During this time, SVB invested in bonds at the top of the market. As interest rates rose higher and bond prices declined, SVB started taking major losses on their long-term bond holdings.
Losses Fueling a Liquidity Crunch
When SVB reported its fourth quarter results in early 2023, Moody’s Investor Service, a credit rating agency took notice. In early March, it said that SVB was at high risk for a downgrade due to its significant unrealized losses. In response, SVB looked to sell $2 billion of its investments at a loss to help boost liquidity for its struggling balance sheet. Soon, more hedge funds and venture investors realized SVB could be on thin ice. Depositors withdrew funds in droves, spurring a liquidity squeeze and prompting California regulators and the FDIC to step in and shut down the bank.
What Happens Now?
While much of SVB’s activity was focused on the tech sector, the bank’s shocking collapse has rattled a financial sector that is already on edge.
The four biggest U.S. banks lost a combined $52 billion the day before the SVB collapse. On Friday, other banking stocks saw double-digit drops, including Signature Bank (-23%), First Republic (-15%), and Silvergate Capital (-11%).
Source: Morningstar Direct. *Represents March 9 data, trading halted on March 10.
When the dust settles, it’s hard to predict the ripple effects that will emerge from this dramatic event. For investors, the Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen announced confidence in the banking system remaining resilient, noting that regulators have the proper tools in response to the issue.
But others have seen trouble brewing as far back as 2020 (or earlier) when commercial banking assets were skyrocketing and banks were buying bonds when rates were low.
