Passage of the Financial Data Transparency Act (FDTA) marks a new chapter in the adoption of regulatory technology. The law is the most substantial reform to data authorities for the financial services sector in a generation. It requires the establishment of a common identifier for information reported to 7 federal financial regulatory agencies and machine-readable and open data standards. The new law will promote interoperability while minimizing regulatory burdens on smaller entities.

The Data Foundation’s RegTech23 Data Summit brought together regulators, regulatory technology (regtech) and financial service providers, academics, and nonprofits to network and collaborate on what implementation of the FDTA will look like.

Data Foundation President Nick Hart opened the day with a reminder that although data standards and open data rules don’t always end up on the front pages of newspapers, they change Americans’ lives in meaningful ways. RegTech23 title sponsor DFIN’s President of Global Capital Markets Craig Clay followed, describing how the FDTA will propel the adoption of regtech solutions that help investors of all sizes make more data-driven decisions. Then, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissioner Hester Peirce took the stage.

Commissioner Peirce shared four recommendations for financial regulators tasked with implementing the FDTA:

Have a Strategic Implementation Vision.
Take Cost Concerns Seriously.
Appropriately Constrain the Urge for More Data.
Keep Up With Changing Technologies.

She concluded by urging regulators to keep an open mind as technologies and financial conditions change.

New research and resources were also released during the Summit. Data Foundation Senior Research Fellow Dean Ritz and co-author Timothy Randle unpacked the intent of the FDTA’s data standards. They presented their new draft paper, “FDTA Data Standards: From Data Sharing to Meaning Sharing,” and encouraged comments. You can submit a comment on the paper via our webpage or through email at FDTA@datafoundation.org. The Data Foundation also released a compendium of our 2022 Financial Data Transparency Forum, highlighting research and remarks on the topic.

In the first panel of the day, Deloitte Principal Ali Bandukwalla and Conference of State Bank Supervisors Chief Data Officer Kris Rowley discussed how to engage Federal Chief Data Officers (CDOs) in the FDTA implementation process. In their vision of success, agencies will take initiative to collaborate on data standardization.

Closing out the morning session, CDO Shawn Bucholtz of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, CDO Brien Lorenze of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, and Deputy Assistant Secretary Renata Maziarz Miskell of the U.S. Department of the Treasury joined Data Foundation Senior Director of Communications Jessica Yabsley and analyzed how previous data laws laid the groundwork for FDTA collaboration. “Plenty of data standards work is being done; the challenge is to make it official and get others to use those standards as well,” said Lorenze. The FDTA makes that easier.

During lunch, attendees met exhibitors and sponsors, networked, and enjoyed a meal with colleagues and friends.

EDM Council President John Bottega, XBRL-US President Campbell Pryde, and DFIN’s Vice President of Corporate Governance and Compliance Services Bridget Hughes offered best practices for data standardization, collaboration, and knowledge sharing across agencies. After a short coffee break, George Washington University Research Professor Bridget Dooling, National Academy of Public Administration President Terry Gerton, and U.S. Treasury Associate Director for Data Products DJ Purnell shared advice for inter-agency collaboration during FDTA implementation with Data Foundation Director of Special Projects Ashley Nelle-Davis.

In his keynote address, Acting Director James Martin of the U.S. Treasury Office of Financial Research noted that standardized data is crucial to analyzing financial trends without losing the meaning of the original data. “The FDTA encourages this foundational concept of interoperability among regulatory data,” he continued.

The final panel of the day asked, “What’s next for the FDTA?” HData Founder and CEO Hudson Hollister, Bloomberg Global Product Head of Symbology and LEI Services Steve Meizanis, Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation Business Development Manager Peter Warms, and Data Foundation Policy Director Corinna Turbes agreed that the establishment of a strong and clear common identifier would set the basis for FDTA success.

The program concluded with a fireside chat between former Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser and Nick Hart. Though the importance of financial data standardization can get lost in translation, Funkhouser explained how financial reporting is directly related to the well-being of communities: It impacts how you spend and budget on infrastructure, welfare, and other services people rely on.

“You have to take care of the money in order to take care of the people,” he said. FDTA is a step in that direction.

Attendees enjoyed a cocktail reception to close out a full day of collaborating about the future of financial data modernization.

For a full recording, slides, and photos from the event, please navigate to the main event page.