Through this blogpost, we release the Conference Proceedings for the Fourth Dvara Research Conference, 2019 on the theme of “Regulating Data-driven Finance”. The Conference Proceedings can be accessed here.
Digitisation is changing our experience of finance. On one level, digitisation is creating a convergence of processes, platforms and financial infrastructure. Simultaneously, it is also driving divergence in the form of unbundling of financial products and of traditional financial institutions. In India, these changes are taking place within the context of a digital divide, where many low-income consumers experience variable levels and quality of access to technology and finance. Against the backdrop of these developments, several foundational questions for financial regulation arise, including the question: Where should the boundaries of regulation be?
In this context, Dvara Research convened its Fourth Research Conference on the 5th and 6th of April, 2019 on the theme of regulating data-driven finance. The Conference brought together a group of Indian and international academicians, regulators, financial service providers and policymakers with expertise in various aspects of data-driven finance to reflect deeply on the optimal regulatory stance for data-driven finance.
The Conference focused on three core themes: (i) consumer data regulation, (ii) consumer data infrastructure, and (iii) suitability for consumer data use and product design. The Conference also explored the issues of competition and misuse of market power in data-driven finance.
The group of experts reflected on the frontier issues relating to the digitisation of finance under these themes, the impact of these developments on the experience of low-income consumers in India, and how regulation should evolve and respond to challenges.
We are publishing our Conference Proceedings that record these rich discussions that took place as part of the presentations, panel discussions and participants’ engagement during the Conference.[1] Each Chapter in the Conference Proceedings concludes with Dvara Research’s reflections and present areas for future research on each of the themes discussed.
We are grateful to all the participants in the Conference who contributed with their insights and helped us focus on issues of financial inclusion and consumer protection at the frontier of digitisation of finance in India.
The Conference Proceedings are accessible here.
[1] No attributions are made to speakers as the sessions were conducted under the Chatham House rule.
