The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and Indonesia's Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK) have entered a Cooperation Agreement to promote innovation in financial services in their respective markets.
The agreement, signed on April 21 2017 in Melbourne, establishes a framework for cooperation between OJK and ASIC in the expanding space of innovation in financial services, agreeing to share information on emerging market trends and regulatory issues arising from the growth in innovation. Both parties believe that through cooperation with each other, they will be able to further the promotion of innovation in their respective markets.
The framework for cooperation under this Agreement is a positive confirmation of the strong and longstanding relationship between the two regulators.
Indonesia, with the largest economy in south-east Asia, hosts a fast-growing financial technology sector. Fintechs are now impacting areas such as payments and transfers, financial management, insurance, lending and finance, retail banking and markets, exchanges and supporting services. Providers are offering services including insurance, investment, financing, peer-to-peer lending and crowd funding.
Chairman of the OJK, Pak Muliaman said: “I hope this further collaboration will be able to promote innovation in our financial service markets and to deepen engagement that can be used for financial sector development in both countries.” In a previous interview with OpenGov, Mr. Eddi Danusaputro, Chief Executive Officer of Mandiri Capital Indonesia (MCI), the VC arm of Bank Mandiri, echoed the same sentiments of a fast-growing FinTech sector in the country:
“Indonesia FinTech industry is reaching an inflection point, where for the very first time FinTech manages to overtake e-commerce (although it's still the highest by amount with US$ 420.9 M), as the top sector by number of deals with 73 investments (vs. 56) recorded in 2016 according to Tech in Asia.
For 2017, we expect to this trend to continue, especially by leveraging the e-commerce boom in Indonesia which allows FinTech to gain even more traction, primarily in Payments (seamless online payment infrastructure) and Lending (alternative lending options for consumers and merchants) to support the growth of e-commerce, which has been the focus of MCI since the beginning.”
John Price, ASIC Commissioner said: “Many FinTechs are not constrained by national borders and it is fundamental that we leverage this to share views, exchange information and to discuss some of the challenges that this can create for FinTech businesses and the community.”
“This agreement is also a further reflection of the deep ties between ASIC and OJK. We look forward to working more closely with OJK on the exciting FinTech developments in both our countries,” he said.
