Muinmos REMONDA Z. KIRKETERP-MØLLER Founder and CEO of Muinmos
Q Can you give the readers an outline of your extensive background? I am a qualified solicitor and RegTech entrepreneur, with a specialism in regulatory matters in financial services. I am also the Founder and CEO of RegTech firm, Muinmos Aps which is headquartered in Denmark. My focus for the last nine years has been on revolutionising regulatory compliance and client onboarding in the financial services sector, using sophisticated technology to automate highly complex and regulatory processes. Prior to setting up Muinmos, I worked in the retail FX sector for many years. I was a co-founder of CFH (now Finalto) and spent over a decade in senior executive positions at Saxo Bank and CFH where I gained first-hand experience about the complexities involved in compliance and client onboarding across multiple jurisdictions. RegTech is a real passion of mine – I was involved in the sector before RegTech was even a recognised term and, as such, I am a regular speaker and expert advisor on regulatory matters in financial services and am also a contributing author of ‘The RegTech Book.’ Q Outside of the two big FX brands in your country, is there a healthy FX ecosystem? There’s a lot of innovation in Denmark and it’s a great place for business. However, like all the big FX brands here, we are operating in a global space and so our location is not a key factor. The ecosystem is basically global nowadays. What’s most important to us is that we understand our market and can provide clients with world-class solutions. For Muinmos, this means providing financial institutions across the globe with technology to enable them to onboard clients quickly and remain compliant across multiple jurisdictions.
financial institutions themselves are being used by money launderers and terror organisations so they set a long list of rules that financial institutions need to adhere to. The result of these two sets of laws, and others like them, is a marketplace that is, presumably, safer for the investors and the financial institutions. However, this heavy regulation has its price: in Europe, according to EU research, MiFID II related compliance alone costs financial institutions about 2-3% of their total revenue. This can cause financial institutions to raise their rates, which is bad for investors, the financial institutions and the market as a whole; or not to comply fully with regulation, which again exposes both the individual investor, the market players and the market itself to risks. Enter RegTech – and a platform like ours, for example, which automates compliance processes, significantly cutting their costs. Our client onboarding platform takes care of client categorisation, suitability and appropriateness, all KYC/AML checks, risk assessments, client lifecycle monitoring – all instantly and automated. Think how dramatically this lowers costs, and enhances compliance. Now financial institutions no longer have the incentive not to comply (making both investors and regulators happy); they pay a lot less for compliance, so they can offer more competitive prices; they’re protected from fines, lawsuits etc.; and they’re also protected from crimes aimed at them, like fraud. So what is RegTech? RegTech is technology that ensures more transparency, more lawfulness, and therefore simply makes the world a safer place.
Q To the uninformed like myself, what is RegTech?
Q I have been reading more in the media about fines given out by regulators, which from my very basic understanding could have been avoided if they had some form of RegTech. Why are firms still not making this a fundamental part of their business?
Regulation Technology is the market’s, the financial institutions’, the investors’ and regulators’ ‘best friend.’ Take, for example, online trading. After 2008, authorities realised we have to protect investors in order to prevent the crashing of the whole financial system, and thus protect financial institutions themselves. Authorities also realised years ago the
I think most financial institutions are using RegTech solutions, to some extent. Maybe not comprehensive RegTech solutions like ours – a lot of financial institutions still have manual or decentralised onboarding processes – but certainly some form of RegTech. Otherwise they wouldn’t survive. Imagine a financial institution that onboards clients manually.
GAME CHANGERS Issue #35
