Idaho regulator seeks wide range of input on fintech oversight

investmentnews.com:

John Yaros wants to hear from a wide range of people with an interest in financial technology – and wants them to listen to each other – as he develops oversight policies.

Yaros, chief of the Securities Bureau of the Idaho Department of Finance, said that too often policy discussions can become echo chambers in which regulators, industry participants, academics and others talk among themselves.

“All stakeholders like to stay in their little boxes,” Yaros said. “We’re trying to break them out of those boxes.”

He’s attempting to do so through the Financial Innovation Lab and the Emerging Technology Advisory Committee. Established earlier this year, the initiative brings together financial and technology experts who will help Idaho regulators better understand emerging technologies in the financial sector.

The committee initially will focus on cybersecurity and cybercrime, artificial intelligence and machine learning and workforce development. The goal for the workforce priority is to create a financial technology, innovation and security professional certification.

The Financial Innovation Lab will hold its first public conference on Feb. 19 in Boise, Idaho. The topic is “protecting consumers in the digital age,” and participants will include Securities and Exchange Commission and other federal regulators, lawmakers, financial and technology company representatives, scholars, lawyers and law enforcement officials.

A major challenge in regulating financial technology is its rapid growth. That’s why it’s important to take a multidisciplinary approach and gather a number of perspectives – from venture capitalists to entrepreneurs to law enforcement officials, Yaros said.

“Unless you [look at] it from all angles, you end up