scientists, programmers, software developers and design thinkers. the challenge, of course, is not specific to fintech firms ; it also affects us as regulators. however, based on our discussions with fintech firms, the race for acquiring such skills sets is pronounced for fintechs, especially if they are still in their 7 information and communication technology 8 johannesburg centre for software engineering ( jcse ) ( wits university ) and the institute of information technology professionals south africa ( iitpsa ), 2019, south african ict skills survey page 6 of 9 early phases of development and / or maturity. it is less so for big - tech firms with wellestablished markets. access to refined financial services data finally, we turn to the importance of data, specifically refined and granular data. it has become cliche to say that ‘ data is the new oil of the economy ’. as the digital economy continues to be embedded through the use of mobile devices, the use of social media platforms, and generally increasing activities over the internet and online commercial platforms, we will increasingly create and leave behind ‘ digital bread crumbs ’ of unprecedented volumes. never before have we seen such volumes of data. and for the first time in human history, we also now have evolving tools and techniques at our disposal through cloud - computing, ai and machine - learning methods to handle such volumes of data. however, in this new digital economy, the availability of, and access to, data related to, for example, transactional payments or specific customer behaviour, has become a key competitive driver. access to both structured and especially unstructured data can provide significant competitive advantages to those who own it. fintechs in particular are exploring the use of big data to produce new services such as product comparisons and tailored solutions based on consumer - specific data. while big data presents new opportunities, the scope of available data, and how to govern access to that data, poses new challenges for the financial services industry and regulatory authorities around the world. as a result of the above, access to refined data is a key issue that regulatory authorities have to deal with. examples of addressing it through open banking and open finance efforts are increasing in many jurisdictions. for south africa, it is important to land on the policy imperatives for such efforts. there are a number of open questions for authorities. these include ( but are not limited to ) : should incumbents be required to share their data with fintechs? page 7 of 9 should the standards for sharing

francois groepe : impact of the global financial crisis on south africa keynote address by mr francois groepe, deputy governor of the south african reserve bank, at a luncheon hosted by the western cape region of the institute of internal auditors, cape town, 6 june 2014. * * * members of the institute of internal auditors and other guests, thank you for the invitation to join you at this lunch networking event, hosted by the western cape region of the institute of internal auditors of south africa, and for the opportunity to address you at this event. today, i wish to focus my remarks on the impact of the global financial crisis on south africa, in particular with reference to the challenges it poses to financial regulation and the increased focus on macro - prudential financial regulation. in this regard, i will take you through the kinds of reforms the bank is implementing, particularly in regard to its regulatory role and which forms part of the package of responses to the global financial crisis. lastly, i would like to touch on the role that the auditing profession can play in support of achieving this objective. the global financial crisis there is no doubt that the global financial crisis has permanently changed the course of the global economy and has established a new normal. the severity of the 2008 financial crisis brought about significant damaging effects to both developed and developing countries. although the emerging market economies performed better than the advanced economies, and became the engines of global growth through the crisis, they were nonetheless affected through the trade and finance channels and as a consequence their growth rates, too had been negatively impacted. in addition, the crises that started out as a banking crisis, then morphed into a sovereign debt crisis, and brought with it particular challenges for central banks and their previously welldefined mandates, for example : many central banks now look much more closely at the build - up of imbalances in the financial system ; and as part of its focus, regulatory reform is dealing with the central banks ’ role with regard to financial stability – or macro - prudential regulation ( which concerns itself with more than just idiosyncratic risk and the soundness of individual institutions but is concerned with the soundness and stability of the entire financial system i. e. systemic soundness ). rationale for a financial stability focus the ultimate objective of economic policy is to create a sustainable level of economic growth through investment, employment and production. this is best achieved when contributions are made by all sectors in the economy