Location: London, United Kingdom
Date: 1 – 5 June 2026

Fee: $4,000 (Financial Sector Regulators and Commercial Banks)

         $3,500 (FinTech Institutions, MFBs, PMIs, and Insurance Companies)

Fintech is moving rapidly from ‘under the regulatory radar’ and is attracting growing regulatory responses and supervisory scrutiny across regulatory and supervisory institutions alike. With the dynamic and growing FinTech market in Africa and its role in promoting financial inclusion, alongside associated risks, which require monitoring its operations and safeguarding stakeholders’ interests, supervisors face the difficult task of balancing the benefits of FinTech developments on financial inclusion while ensuring safe, stable, responsible, and secure financial products and services.

Risk-Based Supervision emphasizes proportionality, forward-looking risk assessment, and supervisory focus on areas of greatest potential impact. It is the leading approach to regulatory supervision of FinTech globally. For regulators, particularly central banks and supervisory authorities, RBS provides a structured approach to prioritising supervisory resources, enhancing oversight of emerging business models, and adapting regulatory tools to rapidly evolving technologies. This approach aligns with international best practices promoted by global standard-setting bodies such as the Basel Committee, FATF, IOSCO, and the BIS, which advocate agile, data-driven, and technology-enabled supervision.

Commercial banks and other regulated financial institutions are increasingly interconnected with FinTechs through partnerships, outsourcing arrangements, and platform-based services. Under a risk-based supervisory regime, banks are expected to strengthen enterprise-wide risk management frameworks, conduct robust due diligence on FinTech engagements, and ensure effective oversight of third-party and technology-related risks. A clear understanding of RBS principles is therefore essential for banks to manage regulatory exposure, safeguard financial soundness, and maintain confidence in the financial system.

For FinTech institutions, Risk-Based Supervision represents both a regulatory obligation and a strategic enabler of sustainable growth. FinTechs that embed strong governance, risk management, and compliance structures are better positioned to scale, attract investment, and build trust with regulators and partners.

This course brings together regulators, banks, and FinTech players to develop a shared understanding of risk-based supervisory expectations, promote constructive engagement, and support the development of a resilient, inclusive, and innovation-friendly financial ecosystem.

Target Audience

This course is packaged for the following target audience:

• Financial sector Regulators and Supervisors
• Central bank supervisory and policy departments
• Regulated Financial Institutions: commercial banks, micro-finance banks (MFBs), mortgage finance institutions (MFIs), Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), Insurance Companies, FinTech institutions – players and operators; e-Money operators, mobile money operators (MNOs), Payment Service Providers (PSPs) etc.
• Market conduct and prudential supervision teams
• Financial intelligence and compliance authorities
• Legal, Compliance, and Reporting Professionals

Learning Outcomes

1. Understand Risk-based Supervision and its relevance to FinTech Operations and Supervision
2. Identify significant activities in FinTech operations that drive most risks.
3. Implement a structured and defensible risk-based supervisory framework for FinTech
4. Identify and demonstrate how technology can enhance risk-based oversight
5. Strengthen regulatory credibility while supporting responsible innovation

Learning Objectives

1. Recall the rapid growth of FinTech in the Digital Financial Service Ecosystem
2. Understand Risk-based Supervision in FinTech
3. Identify, assess, and prioritise FinTech-specific risks
4. Apply risk-based supervisory principles to diverse FinTech business models
5. Design a risk-based supervisory framework for their institutions and align supervisory responses with institutional risk profiles
6. Leverage data, SupTech, and analytics for effective oversight

Programme Content

1. Overview of Digital Financial Services and the FinTech Ecosystem

• Digital Financial Service; scope, drivers, players, and actors in the ecosystem (Banks, FinTechs, MNOs, Regulators, PSPs)

• Systemic Importance of Digital Finance
• Key categories of FinTechs:
  • Payments, wallets, PSPs, PSSPs
  • Neobanks / digital banks
  • Online lenders, BNPL, crowdfunding
  • InsurTech, WealthTech, RegTech, BigTech
• Market structure and digital financial services infrastructure

• FinTech Business Models: Platform-based and ecosystem-driven models

• The role of APIs and Open Banking

2. Risk-Based Supervision in the FinTech Era

• Evolution of supervisory approaches: rules-based vs risk-based supervision
• Core principles of risk-based supervision
• Why FinTechs require differentiated supervisory treatment
• Proportionality and activity-based regulation
• Supervisory mandates: stability, integrity, inclusion, and innovation
• Global regulatory models (Basel, BIS, IAIS, IOSCO, FATF, CPMI)
• Benefits and limitations of RBS in the FinTech age
• RBS for emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs)

3. Risk Taxonomy for FinTech Operations and Risk Drivers

• Prudential risks: capital adequacy, liquidity, and solvency
• Governance and operational risk
• Cybersecurity and technology risk
• AML/CFT and fraud risk
• Liquidity and solvency risks (where applicable)
• Third-party risk (outsourcing, cloud services, agents)
• Consumer protection, data privacy & conduct risks
• Competition and market integrity risks
• Emerging risks: AI/ML, digital identity, crypto assets, stablecoins

4. The Risk-Based Supervision Lifecycle

• Risk identification
• Risk assessment: Inherent vs Residual
• Risk assessment in FinTech Partnerships:
  • Due diligence frameworks
  • API integration risks
  • Data‑sharing risks in Open Banking
  • Contracting, SLAs, and risk allocation
• Risk quantification and scoring
• Risk prioritization
• Supervisory planning & resource allocation
• Reporting and continuous monitoring
• Feedback loop for iterative supervision

5. Supervisory Tools and Techniques for FinTech Oversight

• Licensing and authorisation reviews
• Off-site monitoring and reporting requirements
• On-site and thematic examinations
• Data-driven supervision & regulatory technology (SupTech)
• Risk‑scoring models for FinTech entities
• Stress testing for digital financial services
• Early‑warning indicators & dashboards
• Enforcement, remediation, and corrective actions

6. Building an RBS Framework for FinTech Supervision

• Regulatory perimeter definition
• Principles‑based vs rules‑based regulation
• Licensing and authorisation risk assessment
• Supervisory impact & systemic importance rating
• Market conduct supervision for digital finance
• Sandbox supervision & innovation hubs

7. Principles and policy considerations for FinTech Supervision

• Examining the Basel core principles for effective banking supervision
• Principle of Proportionality – adapting processes, allocating resources and considering the risk profile of the FinTech firms under supervision.
• Principle of Technology Neutrality – Focusing on the functionality of FinTech Products & Services
• Six Pillar policy framework/consideration for the evaluation of FinTech Supervision
  • Risk Identification from FinTech Activities
  • Selecting a Supervisory Approach to FinTech
  • Assessing the existing Supervisory framework
  • The promotion of Regional and sub-regional Cooperation in FinTech Supervision
  • Financial Inclusive Supervision
  • Deployment of SupTech Tools
• Creation of an enabling environment for real-time reporting

8. AML/CFT & Financial Crime Controls and Supervision

• Risk-based AML/CFT framework
• Monitoring high-risk digital transactions
• Crypto-asset and VASP supervision
• Fraud typologies in FinTech channels and Fraud prevention frameworks
• Cross-border payment monitoring
• KYC, KYB & digital identity requirements
• Suspicious activity reporting and Transaction monitoring systems

9. 9. Embedding Risk-Based Principles in FinTech Operations

• Understanding your risk profile as a FinTech Institution/operator
• Designing an internal risk management framework
• Aligning business strategy with risk appetite
• Governance structures (Board, CRO, risk committees)

10. 10. Regulatory Innovation and Supervisory Flexibility

• Regulatory sandboxes and innovation hubs
• Test-and-learn supervisory models
• Proportional compliance frameworks
• Managing regulatory arbitrage
• International standards and best practices

11. Internal Monitoring & Reporting for RBS

• Risk dashboards for executive and board reporting
• Scenario analysis for technology failures
• Data quality management
• Aligning enterprise risk management (ERM) with digital operations

12. Real-world scenario analysis, Use cases, and case studies

Field Visits & Experiential Learning

To complement the classroom learning, there will be field visits that will provide real-world exposure to regulation, innovation, industry practice, and ecosystem thinking. This visit will combine regulatory insight, FinTech innovation hubs, industry bodies, data and payments practice, and financial services heritage — all relevant to deepening practical understanding of supervision and operational realities – Bank of England Museum.