SINGAPORE –\u00a0Media
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The report examines
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Enabling
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Strengths and Opportunities for Regulatory Improvement<\/b><\/p>\n
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The report is available for free download at https:\/\/www.asiacloudcomputing.org<\/a>. Markets covered include Australia, Hong Kong, India,
\nOutReach<\/a>\u00a0– 9 July 2021\u00a0<\/b>–\u00a0Asia Cloud Computing Association (ACCA)<\/a> released its 2021 report on the financial services
\nsector, Better on the Cloud \u2013 Financial Services in Asia Pacific.<\/i><\/b>
\nThis is the third iteration of this report, examining the nuances of cloud and
\ntechnology adoption by the Asia Pacific financial services sector. <\/p>\n
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\neleven Asia Pacific markets, looking at the digital transformation accrued by
\njurisdictions which have facilitated greater cloud adoption within their
\nfinancial sectors. The report reviews developments and policy adjustments made
\nby regulators to work with financial institutions (FIs) and cloud service
\nproviders (CSPs) \u2013 adjustments which unlock the enabling power of cloud as a
\nkey support technology for FI business objectives, and risk management. <\/p>\n
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\nTransforming During The COVID-19 Pandemic<\/b><\/p>\n
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\npandemic season has significantly accelerated the need for FIs to transform
\ndigitally, with minimal disruption to their business. The financial sector’s resilience
\nhas been supported and enhanced by the availability of cloud computing
\ntechnologies, which have supported transactions being enabled online and via
\nmobile apps, allowed for secure means of remote identity verification and other
\nKnow Your Customer (KYC) requirements, and have paved a new way forward for
\nmanaging relationships, balancing limited physical interactions with virtual
\nconnections.<\/p>\n
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\nintense work-from-home period, cloud-based tools have allowed rapid adoption of
\nnew ways to communicate and collaborate all over the world,” says Quint Simon,
\nHead of Public Policy, Asia-Pacific & Japan at Amazon Web Services (AWS),
\nand Vice-Chair of the ACCA. “This has improved business efficiency and
\nmitigated the risk of stress on FIs’ technology systems with capabilities that
\nwould have been far more challenging and costly without adoption of cloud
\ncomputing.”<\/p>\n
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\na Robust and Resilient Regulatory Environment<\/b><\/p>\n
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\nfindings reveal that strong financial regulatory markets are characterized by a
\npolicy environment that has continuously updated, adapted, and revised
\nregulations and guidelines to enable FI adoption of cloud computing
\ntechnologies. <\/p>\n
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\npleased to note that many regulators are taking the step to go beyond accepting
\ncloud adoption in the financial services sector, to actively affirming and
\nencouraging FIs to consider the benefits of cloud,” observes Barbara Navarro,
\nDirector of Google Cloud Government Affairs and Public Policy, and Treasurer of
\nthe ACCA. <\/p>\n
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\nRegulatory Recommendations<\/b><\/p>\n
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\nare positive developments within APAC which demonstrate the importance and
\nbenefit of continued dialogue between regulators, FIs and CSPs, the report
\nnotes that not all regulatory conditions are equally robust. It makes ten
\nrecommendations which will further accelerate digital transformation in
\nfinancial services while mitigating associated risks.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/release.media-outreach.com\/release.php\/Images\/Thumb\/520x0\/161651\/ACCA2.jpg#image-161651\")
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\n– Governments have publicly affirmed the adoption of public cloud for financial
\ninstitutions (FIs).<\/li>\n
\n– Regulations should set out clear and not unduly burdensome processes for FIs
\nto follow when adopting cloud services.<\/li>\n
\n– Regulations should not require regulatory prior approval for implementation
\nof cloud services for each workload.<\/li>\n
\n– Regulations should be risk-based and clearly differentiate applicability to
\nmaterial and non-material workloads and for non-material workloads requirements
\nshould be minimal.<\/li>\n
\n– Regulations should have a clear distinction between control vs processing of
\ndata.<\/li>\n
\n– Geographic Restrictions: (a) Regulations should permit the cross-border
\ntransfer of data, and (b) Regulations should not require data to be stored in a
\nspecific geography.<\/li>\n
\n– Regulations should not prescribe terms of cloud contracts.<\/li>\n
\n– Regulations should not create a right to government for unrestricted physical
\naudit access rights to CSP facilities.<\/li>\n
\n– Regulations and regulators are neutral as to foreign or domestic CSPs.<\/li>\n
\n#10 – Regulations promote a risk-based approach to effective operational
\nresiliency, which may include non-mandatory guidance encouraging the FI to
\nconsider business continuity and disaster recovery planning, geographic
\ndiversity, reversibility, exit planning, and vendor choice, among other
\nfactors.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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\nreport’s analysis, the leading markets have fully achieved most, if not all of
\nour recommendations,” said Eric Hui, Chair of the ACCA, noting the improvements
\nin APAC’s pro-cloud policies. “Financial regulators in Australia, Philippines,
\nSingapore and Japan have made strong positive statements, or through their
\nguidance, clearly support the adoption of cloud computing by FIs.” <\/p>\n
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\nthere are opportunities for regulatory enhancement, to increase clarity and
\nreduce cloud deployment times. “Beyond the leading regulators, there is a group
\nof markets where the shift to cloud is more challenging because some regulatory
\nrequirements may tend to impede cloud adoption and technological innovation in
\nthe FIs,” adds Lim May-Ann, Executive Director of the ACCA. “There are
\nvariations on why this is the case for each of these markets, and this report
\nprovides a deep dive market analysis to examine market nuances further.”<\/p>\n
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\nnuance is the requirements for a regulatory approval or notice of no-objection
\nfrom the financial regulator when deploying cloud technology. “In some markets
\nthe regulator requires approval or a notice of non-objection for each occasion
\nan FI intends to place a workload on a cloud service, and this process can be
\nhighly repetitive, lengthy and opaque, which can impede cloud deployment,”
\nobserves Bojan Obradovic, Head of Cloud Services, HSBC, a member of the ACCA. “Regulators
\nshould consider the FI’s risk-based analysis \u2013 and how the standards, best
\npractices and certifications of a CSP align with objectives.”<\/p>\n
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\nIndonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan,
\nThailand \u2013 along with two global benchmark jurisdictions markets, the United
\nKingdom and the United States of America (federal, and New York state.) <\/p>\n
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