We're collaborating with multinational law firm Pinsent Masons to help businesses share data safely, efficiently, and effectively across financial services.
There's a shift in demand from the market and regulators to provide additional benefits to consumers through greater choice and access to products and services.
In the FCA’s 2019/2020 business plan, the concept of open finance was introduced, aiming to set the standard for how banks and other financial institutions share data. Building upon open banking, open finance hopes to streamline the customer process by sharing customer history, with a much wider impact affecting consumer banks, mortgage providers, consumer credit firms, investment and pension funds, as well as general insurers and intermediaries.
The focus of open finance is to improve the way consumers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) manage their finances and improve the way companies in the financial services ecosystem interact with each other and with their customers.
This is done by utilising application programme interfaces (API’s) to create optimal financial products and services across third party providers, underpinned by sharing data – both open data (available publicly) and user/customer data (provided with user consent, and with strong data security and privacy to enable verified firms to share data).
This creates opportunities for customers to be provided with better products and services, at the best price points, in a digitally optimal way that is user-friendly, fast and secure.
| Change in customer behaviour | Maturity of fintechs and bigtech | Advancements in technology | Change in regulation and global standards |
| Higher expectations Seek experiences Seek convenience Want to be empowered More social |
Focusing on different segments of the value chain New business and improved data models Improved understanding of financial services Executing data driven approach |
Big data IoT RPA Cloud computing Machine learning Artificial intelligence Dit and blockchain 5G Quantum computing |
GDPR PSD2/CMA IDD MIFID II PRIIPs IFRS PEPP |
This new collaboration between the two firms will pool their wide range of data expertise, including advise on implementation and technology platforms, to support financial services firms with a range of data challenges critical to the success of open finance. This will include advice around data sharing and licensing, data ethics, data platforms, data analytics, artificial intelligence, creating data strategies, and establishing fit for purpose data management.
“This collaboration brings together Pinsent Masons' impressive legal expertise in data and Grant Thornton’s advisory and implementation expertise in data and analytics, regtech and digital. Together we will support financial services firms to navigate both the opportunities and risks posed by open finance. Our joint mission is to help our clients and the financial services ecosystem by providing expert advice on data sharing, data ethics and responding to data regulation in the most effective, efficient and secure manner.
The centre collaboration will initially focus on organisations across the financial services sector but plans to expand to other key sectors as the partnership develops."
Nikhil Asthana, Head of Data, RegTech & Digital Assurance Practice, Financial Services Group, Grant Thornton UK
“Across Pinsent Masons and Grant Thornton, we have complementary expertise spanning all areas of data advice, and enabling organisations to unlock the value of the data they own. By working together, we will be able to provide clients with a holistic data service and we want to provide a key resource for tackling data challenges.”
Andrew McMillan, Head of Technology and Digital Markets, Pinsent Masons
