Opening remarks by Lucie Tedesco, seminar on Open Banking: Developments, Impact and Challenges

8 November, 2018
Brasilia, Brazil

Check against delivery

Good morning. It's a pleasure to be here, joining the Central Bank of Brazil as co-host of today’s seminar, Open Banking: Developments, Impact and Challenges. 

It has become a wonderful tradition for the International Financial Consumer Protection Organisation – FinCoNet – to wrap up its annual general meeting so members can then take part in a session like this, on a significant development within the financial services sector. Even more important than giving me and my FinCoNet colleagues an excellent reason to extend our stay in beautiful settings such as Brasilia, today's seminar is an invaluable occasion to enhance our knowledge and be part of a large, multi-disciplinary audience. 

So it is within this context that I will begin by saying a few words to you about FinCoNet. This organization boasts a membership of 24 – and growing – financial consumer protection supervisory authorities from across the globe. It is a forum for research, discussions and the exchange of information. Our members strive to enhance consumer protection and strengthen consumer confidence by promoting effective supervisory standards and practices. In this way, we contribute to advancing global financial stability.

This year, in addition to our ongoing work on issues related to high-cost lending and risk-based supervision, FinCoNet has undertaken projects on financial product governance and culture, and financial advertising. 

One of the things I value most about FinCoNet, is that it broadens and enriches my perspective as a federal regulator. By enabling our members and observers to share and learn from one another's experiences, the organization supports our collective drive to identify best practices for financial consumer protection. 

As Chair of FinCoNet, I extend an open invitation to all of you to consider being part of this organization. I can assure you that you will encounter from our members a positive receptivity to your ideas and questions. Through interactions with us, you will be inspired and better able to generate ideas for realizing your professional commitments. 

So that’s my pitch to you. The ball is now in your hands. Please feel free to have a look at our website, contact us via our OECD secretariat, or reach out to me directly. 

Like any FinCoNet meeting or discussion, today’s seminar is an opportunity for us all to learn together and to share experiences. Today, the focus relates to assessing, planning and implementing open banking within our respective jurisdictions. It is to our benefit to have so many different professional disciplines from at least as many corners of our world represented here. 

Outside of this setting, countries most advanced in adopting open banking are already an excellent source of wisdom. For example, we can look to the transition toward open banking in the UK. There, the lack of a coordinated consumer education campaign to accompany the roll-out of its open banking initiative has seriously hindered widespread consumer adoption of the technology needed to ensure success. Consumers have expressed strong reluctance to sharing personal financial data. In fact, 53 % of UK consumers surveyed said they will never change their existing banking habits and adopt open banking.

Meanwhile, in Australia, the government is now requiring banks to open up access to customer and small business data. For banks, this means giving up an asset that, up to now, has essentially been theirs. Recognizing the likelihood that banks will not be altogether supportive of open banking, the country's Standing Committee on Economics has delegated responsibility for implementation to an independent body. This will ensure that banks not be allowed to control the process or set the rules by which consumer data is opened up.

Even from these fragments of others' experiences, we can learn from what these two countries have encountered ahead of us – specifically, that consumer awareness and trust are primary strategic considerations, as are the influence and interests of banks. 

So among us today, we have an exponentially greater opportunity to render intelligence and savvy from this seminar that we can bring back and tailor to our own jurisdictions. 

Whether you are a policy maker, a lawmaker, an academic, a researcher or hold business interests in the financial services sector, this is the place for you to be. I am thrilled to be with you all and look forward to the day's experiences.

On behalf of FinCoNet, I would like to say thank you to the Central Bank of Brazil for organizing into this seminar. It is a tremendous feat. Congratulations.

Thanks to all of you too for your attention and for being here.