for our surveillance, but comes at a cost to the firms we regulate. the bill for regulatory reporting in the uk is estimated at between £2bn and £4. 5bn a year. we want to leverage modern technology so that the way we collect and analyse data becomes cheaper, faster, and more effective. this would provide a foundation that is both more resilient and has lower barriers to entry ; helping private sector innovation to flourish. to achieve these goals, we are reviewing our data strategy to ensure we embrace new technology. we have already started work to deploy proof of concepts to see what potential benefits ai / ml could have for identifying regulatory issues. we are also looking to make our regulatory rulebook machine - readable, providing a platform on which firms can develop innovative methods to ensure their compliance. this principle of openness does not just apply to operational matters. we also need to reflect on the appropriateness of our rules and regulations for the digital economy. for example, traditionally only large banks could be a participant in the uk ’ s high value payments system. we reviewed this rule given changes in the digital economy and the maturity of non - bank payment providers – we now have five such non - banks who have direct access to settlement accounts at the bank of england. these changes increase competition but have been determined with a strong focus on appropriate safeguards. similarly, next year, we are holding a consultation on widening access to our balance sheet, to gather evidence on whether this could further support competition and stability in the uk financial sector. i have spoken about how fintech offers possibilities for more openness, and more integrated markets at a national level. we are seeing the benefits of being open to new ideas, open to new entrants and open to developing our own capabilities at the bank of england. these developments hold the promise of integrating new firms and new consumers, such as the smes we believe could benefit from greater and safer access to finance. all speeches are available online at www. bankofengland. co. uk / news / speeches international however, i want to turn now to an area where in my view we have seen less cause for optimism. at the international level, we have not yet seen the same benefits of growing openness and markets that are more integrated. in her incoming speech, imf managing director georgieva pointed out that fissures were emerging across the international economic and financial system, including in financial technology. 3 take payments - the last decade has

seen a transformation in the global payments landscape, with users now finding it easier to pay for goods than ever before. however, the underlying technology varies dramatically by region. today we use contactless cards in the uk, mobile money in africa, e - money in china and upi in india. these differences mean we will have to work harder to find solutions to the system of cross - border payments as our systems are not naturally interoperable. what can we, as policy makers and private sector participants, do to ease this trend? to conclude let me suggest two priorities. the first priority is simple – talk to and learn from each other, as we are doing here today. at the bank of england, we place a very strong emphasis on learning from best practice around the world. given the transformative outcomes in the chinese economy and fintech sector, for example the rapid growth of digital payments, we know there is a lot we can learn. it is for this reason that the bank of england is engaging in dialogue on these topics through a programme led by our centre for central banking studies, supported by the uk government. the wider uk government is also engaging with china on fintech issues through the uk government ’ s prosperity fund. the second priority is to leverage existing forums to promote global co - operation and co - ordination on technology issues. regulators across the globe are not always going to agree on what technologies they want to use and how they fit into regulatory frameworks. however, global financial institutions for policy coordination such as the fsb, bis and imf provide important forums in which we can highlight concerns and work to find agreement where it exists. at the bank of england we want to work with our partners to ensure we harness the benefits of technology in a way that maintains financial stability. and we want to work with our international partners to ensure fintech is supported by international cooperation, rather than creating new dislocation. we believe these goals are achievable and that if met, they herald the promise of a better finance for the people we serve, both in the uk and in china and globally. available online at https : / / www. imf. org / en / news / articles / 2019 / 10 / 03 / sp100819 - ams2019 - curtain - raiser. all speeches are available online at www. bankofengland. co. uk / news / speeches