Southeast Asia's Fintech industry is at a critical juncture, balancing innovation with regulatory challenges and market pressures. Stephanie Magnus, Principal at our Financial Services Regulatory and Fintech Practice Groups, provides her insights on the rapidly changing Fintech landscape in Southeast Asia in an interview with Asian Legal Business:
- Prepare for market consolidation and M&A opportunities: We expect that there may be consolidation and an increase in M&A activity in specific sectors such as the payments space, particularly as the gap of valuation expectations between the buyer and seller close. There will also be an opportunity to look at distressed assets. There is also interest in the usage of AI and Gen AI, and there will be interest to see how to leverage AI opportunities to introduce efficiencies within the Fintech space.
- Fintechs will need to identify new opportunities in an increasingly crowded market: Fintechs would need to look at new opportunities so that they do not enter a market which is already crowded, particularly with potentially shorter runways from a funding perspective. Opportunities in the ESG, SME or consumer space continue to be attractive. Digital tokenization is also garnering wide discussion with technology players, small fintech companies and larger financial institutions being interested in the potential of greater liquidity on a cross border basis. This is a space which will grow.
- Evolving regulations around AI may require an adaptable business strategy and robust governance: Business models must be considered in light of evolving regulation, data privacy concerns and it would be good to plan ahead. Rules around the usage of AI or Gen AI will likely become more pervasive across jurisdictions. As technology permeates, Fintechs should also expect evolving data privacy and cybersecurity regulation. With increasing usage of AI, governance is crucial. AI must be deployed in a way that is fair, ethical and where there is appropriate accountability and transparency to users. Companies should therefore set up a governance process to ensure that AI works within legal boundaries and is fit for purposes.
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