RegTech association ramps up with three appointments

The RegTech Association (RTA) has announced the appointment of a new CEO and two board members: leading advocacy expert, Deborah Young as CEO; Commonwealth Bank’s (CBA) Head of Governance & Assurance, Jasper Poos as Director and serial RegTech entrepreneur, Harold Lucero as Director.

The RTA brings regulators and regulated entities together to improve efficiency, productivity and safety of business and financial systems – through the adoption of RegTech. These three new appointments will help the RTA deliver on its mission of building higher performing, ethical and compliant businesses through RegTech innovation and investment.

Commenting on the three appointments RTA Chairman, Julian Fenwick said: “We are very pleased to announce these new appointments. We are cognisant of the need to ensure that our board has representation from both RegTechs and Regulated entities, and these new board members provide just that. Our new CEO and board appointments bring together a range of balanced perspectives to help the association accelerate the adoption of RegTech in Australia.”

Deborah Young, CEO

Deborah Young brings over 20 years of financial services advocacy experience and assumes the role of CEO from her previous position as the General Manager of the RTA. She has a track record in building industry engagement programs from the ground up, including accreditation programs, Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) and diversity initiatives in venture capital/private equity, insurance and superannuation.

Deborah Young said: “It is an honour to be confirmed as the RegTech Association’s first CEO. The growth and awareness of the association’s work continues to build, and I am very excited to be able to lead in the implementation of the next phase of the strategy. We have already begun the roll out of our RegTech AML Boot Camps which underline our values to educate, connect and collaborate. I’d like to thank the board for this opportunity and look forward to working with all members in pursuing our goals.”

RTA Chairman, Julian Fenwick added, “It is especially pleasing to announce Deborah Young as the RegTech Association’s first CEO. Deborah’s passion and expertise in mobilising and operationalising industry-wide impact initiatives made her the clear and logical choice to take the association forward through its next phase. We are excited to work with Deborah and look forward to having her leadership in driving the organisation into the future.”

Jasper Poos, Director

Jasper Poos brings a wealth of global compliance experience both from the regulated entity and regulator perspective. He has been involved in the RegTech Association in an advisory capacity since its foundation in 2017. He is currently Head of Governance and Assurance for CBA in a role that covers operational risk and compliance across the bank’s institutional banking and markets business.

CBA has also joined foundation member, the Bank of Queensland as a regulated entity member, and is the first of the ‘big four’ Australian banks to join the association, plus is the first regulated entity to put a representative forward to join the board. This commitment is testament to the bank’s highly supportive and collaborative approach to RegTech in Australia.

Jasper Poos said: “The Commonwealth Bank is pleased to have joined the association and I’m very excited to provide support at a board level to help drive industry collaboration within Australia. As a bank, we can learn a lot by working closely with RegTechs to learn how we can use technology to better respond to regulators.”

Harold Lucero, Director

Harold Lucero was the founder and chair of RegTech firm, Lucsan, which was recently acquired by IRESS (ASX: IRE) – a leading supplier of innovative technology solutions for the financial markets. He joins the board having participated on the advisory committee of the association since its inception. Harold has deep banking, stockbroking and IT industry experience, holding a number of board positions including NSW Vice-Chair for the Australian Latin American Business Council, as well as being a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and Fellow Member of the Australian Computer Society.

Harold Lucero said: “I’m delighted to have joined the board of the RTA at such a seminal time for the industry. RegTech presents an opportunity for increasing productivity and ensuring a robust compliance and regulatory eco-system. With Australia number three in the world in the concentration of RegTech firms, there’s no better time and place to be involved in the evolution of industry.”

Since its foundation in 2017, 52 organisations have joined the association with the objective to accelerate RegTech development and adoption. You can find more information on RTA board members at regtech.org.au/about or find out more about RegTech Association’s flagship event #ACCELERATERegTech here.