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Regulatory Ramblings

Reg/Tech Lab - HKU-SCF FinTech Academy - Asia Global Institute - HKU-edX Professional Certificate in FinTech
Regulatory Ramblings
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  • Ep 79 - Beyond the Divide: Crypto, Compliance, and the Future of Finance
    Episode 79 with Stanley Foodman and Viktoria Soltesz 🎧 In this episode of Regulatory Ramblings, we explore two critical conversations shaping the financial and compliance landscape.Part 1: Viktoria Soltesz on Banking Flows and PaymentsWe kick off with Viktoria Soltesz, founder of PSP Angels and the Soltesz Institute, who explains why businesses must understand banking flows to perform proper due diligence (2:37). Viktoria challenges the notion that blockchain and crypto are the ultimate solution (5:27), stresses the urgent need for financial education (7:23), and highlights why standards and ethics matter in payments (11:43). She closes with her vision for fairer global payment systems (13:38).Part 2: Stanley Foodman on Crypto’s Compliance CrossoverNext, we sit down with Stanley Foodman, CEO of Foodman CPAs & Advisors, to discuss his LinkedIn article on why the line between digital assets and traditional finance no longer exists. Stan shares his journey from Miami’s Cocaine Cowboy era to the crypto frontier (22:05), explains why blockchain is a boon for law enforcement (32:02), and debates public vs. private blockchains (33:53). We then dive into crypto speculation, regulation (41:36), its political influence (50:12), and the compliance priorities financial institutions must embrace—breaking silos (56:20) and managing crypto on the balance sheet (1:05:55).About Our Guests:Viktoria Soltesz is an award-winning payments and banking expert, author of Moving Money – How Banks Think, and founder of PSP Angels and the Soltesz Institute.Stanley Foodman is a CPA, CFE, CAMS-certified forensic accountant and compliance advisor with decades of experience in financial crime, risk management, and regulatory strategy.The Regulatory Ramblings podcast is brought to you by The University of Hong Kong's Reg/Tech Lab (Building Better Financial Systems), HKU-SCF FinTech Academy, Asia Global Institute, and HKU-edX Professional Certificate in FinTech, with support from HKU Faculty of Law. The program is led by Douglas Arner and hosted by Ajay Shamdasani.For more details about the authors and links, please visit: hkufintech.com/rrHKU FinTech is the leading fintech research and education in Asia. Learn more at www.hkufintech.com.
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  • Ep 78 - How Well Does AML Work? | Spotlight on Rethinking AI Regulation
    Episode 78 with Oonagh van den Berg, Prof. Peter Reuter, and Dr. Mirko Nazzari 🎧 In this episode, returning guest and compliance expert Oonagh van den Berg discusses why current AI regulation approaches fall short, based on her LinkedIn article, “Rethinking AI Regulation: Why Current Approaches Are Falling Short.” She highlights the limitations of fragmented national laws, the need for a global AI rulebook, and the role of public education in shifting from blind trust to informed verification. Geopolitical pressures and coordination challenges further complicate regulation.The conversation then turns to anti-money laundering (AML) with Professor Peter Reuter and Dr. Mirko Nazzari, authors of “How Well Does the Money Laundering Control System Work?” They explore the systemic limits of AML, including over-complex compliance, inefficiencies, and impacts on financial inclusion. The “firehose” of suspicious activity reports illustrates both the potential and challenges of intelligence gathering, often hindered by under-resourced agencies.Reuter and Nazzari emphasize that AML is not just about preventing laundering but targeting predicate crimes. They examine tensions between enforcement, privacy, and effectiveness, and the growing costs and obligations in sectors like cryptocurrency. They also highlight uneven global implementation and the difficulty of reform, despite widespread recognition of system shortcomings.The episode closes with reflections on improving AML through better data, academic research, and collaboration between regulators and the private sector, offering pathways for realistic, evidence-based reform.Podcast Discussion Covers:Oonagh van den Berg: Why Current AI Regulation Approaches Fall ShortCase for a Global AI Rulebook & Public EducationReuter & Nazzari: How Well Does the AML System Work?Simple Schemes, Complex Challenges - The Limits of AMLCompliance Trap & Who Benefits from Broken AML ProcessesScaling Back Enforcement: US Policy Shifts & AML Compliance LimitsFrom Firehose to Insights: Value of AML ReportsAML Overreach, Financial Inclusion, and EffectivenessBeyond the Label: AML as a Tool Against Predicate CrimeTension Between AML Enforcement, Privacy, and Practical EffectivenessReflections on the Global AML System and Path ForwardAbout Our Guests:Oonagh van den Berg – Founder of Raw Compliance, lawyer, and educator with experience across Asia, now based in Braga, Portugal.Dr. Mirko Nazzari – Postdoctoral research fellow in Political Science at Università degli Studi di Sassari, Italy, specializing in AML, cybercrime, and public policy.Professor Peter Reuter – Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland, Stockholm Prize in Criminology recipient, and leading authority on financial crime and policy evaluation.The Regulatory Ramblings podcast is brought to you by The University of Hong Kong's Reg/Tech Lab (Building Better Financial Systems), HKU-SCF FinTech Academy, Asia Global Institute, and HKU-edX Professional Certificate in FinTech, with support from HKU Faculty of Law. The program is led by Douglas Arner and hosted by Ajay Shamdasani.For more details about the authors and links, please visit: hkufintech.com/rrHKU FinTech is the leading fintech research and education in Asia. Learn more at www.hkufintech.com.
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  • Ep 77 - Banks Without Borders: Re-Linking De-Risking, Open Rails | Legal & Compliance Hiring Trends
    Episode 77 with Lotte Schou Zibell, Ian Morrison, and Raoul Montgomery 🎧In this episode, veteran international expert on financial sector development & digital transformation Lotte Schou-Zibell unpacks why correspondent banking links have thinned in smaller markets - and why the fix isn’t “more rules” but smarter, cheaper, more consistent compliance built on shared digital public infrastructure: foundational ID, tiered KYC, interoperable payment rails, straight-through reporting, and utilities multiple banks can use instead of rebuilding controls. Lotte also points to AI-assisted regulatory mapping that lowers the “cost of certainty,” and argues for interoperability via APIs over any single-chain “panacea.” MDBs and partners matter here - funding capacity, aligning standards, and helping restore (and keep) cross-border access.She discussed Root-to-Revenue Bamboo: how geotagged roots plus geospatial mapping and other DPI elements create verifiable, data-rich assets. That alternative data can underwrite inclusive credit (collateral and cash-flow lending to farmers and MSMEs), support carbon credits and climate-linked finance, and feed traceable value chains for housing materials and textiles - turning “root as asset” into bankable livelihoods and climate resilience.We also chat with Ian Morrison and Raoul Montgomery for late summer hiring pulse in legal & compliance. Across London, Hong Kong, and Singapore, hiring cooled over summer and is edging back: banks are freezing mid-junior roles while selectively adding senior, multifaceted leaders to redesign controls, merge compliance/fincrime, and decide where to deploy AI and outsourcing. Outside traditional investment banking, insurance, digital assets/crypto, family offices, private wealth, and consulting show steadier demand. Chinese firms expanding in Hong Kong are lifting the premium on Mandarin and experienced local compliance leadership. Geopolitical risk is being reorganized - not retired - and is increasingly client-facing.Podcast Discussion covers:Late-Summer Hiring Pulse in Legal & Compliance Freeze Below, Hire Above - Geo-Risk Moves Client-Facing Beyond Credentials - Soft Skills for Legal & Compliance Lotte Schou-Zibell, A Veteran’s View on Finance Early Sparks - Crossing Cultures from Sweden to the US and Beyond Why IMF and ADB - Crisis Lessons Meet the Asian Tigers Inclusion to Climate - How Policy and Tech Rewired the System Geotagged Bamboo: DPI, and Inclusive Credit, Root to Revenue for Finance, Housing, ResilienceFrom AML Burden to a Finternet - Genome to New Rails Foundational ID to DPI - Shared Rails and Smarter Compliance to Keep Links Open Beyond the Panacea - From Blockchain Hype to Interoperable Rails Cutting Through the Noise - From Learning to People-First Solutions, and the 5th Asia Finance Forum at ADB ManilaThe Regulatory Ramblings podcast is brought to you by The University of Hong Kong's Reg/Tech Lab (Building Better Financial Systems), HKU-SCF FinTech Academy, Asia Global Institute, and HKU-edX Professional Certificate in FinTech, with support from HKU Faculty of Law. The program is led by Douglas Arner and hosted by Ajay Shamdasani. For more details about the authors and links, please visit: hkufintech.com/rrHKU FinTech is the leading fintech research and education in Asia. Learn more at www.hkufintech.com.
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  • Ep 76 - The US GENIUS Act + HK Stablecoin Ordinance | HK Web3 Blueprint
    Episode 76 with Joshua Chu, Syed Musheer Ahmed and Sean Lee  🎧The common theme for this episode is FinTech and Web3 writ large – with an eye towards digital assets and virtual currency.In Spotlight segment, we’ll be speaking with a returning guest and a dear friend of the program – Syed Musheer Ahmed of Hong Kong-based FinStep Asia on the recently disseminated the “Hong Kong Web3 Blueprint: Building a Web 3 International Financial Hub” report. Joining Musheer is Sean Lee, co-lead of Web3 Harbour's Policy Committee and one of the key leaders of the Blueprint taskforce.Following that, we’ll be chatting with local lawyer Joshua Chu on the recently passed US GENIUS Act and what it means for making the US a stablecoin hub. Context and implications:What truly makes a digital-asset hub beyond regulation;How Hong Kong’s Web3 Blueprint prioritizes talent, infrastructure, and market use cases;What the US GENIUS Act and Hong Kong’s stablecoin regime mean for issuance and market structure;Where stablecoins and CBDCs can coexist—and the legal traditions shaping each path;Risks to monitor: speculative excess, meme coins, corporate BTC treasuries.The Regulatory Ramblings podcast is brought to you by The University of Hong Kong's Reg/Tech Lab (Building Better Financial Systems), HKU-SCF FinTech Academy, Asia Global Institute, and HKU-edX Professional Certificate in FinTech, with support from HKU Faculty of Law. The program is led by Douglas Arner and hosted by Ajay Shamdasani. For more details about the authors and links, please visit: hkufintech.com/rrHKU FinTech is the leading fintech research and education in Asia. Learn more at www.hkufintech.com.
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  • Ep 75 - Rethinking Hong Kong’s Startup Ecosystem and Its Legal Foundations
    Episode 75 with David Cameron, Syed Musheer Ahmed and Joshua Chu  🎧This episode of Regulatory Ramblings takes a deep dive into the current state of Hong Kong’s startup environment - exploring how conducive the city’s legal, commercial, and policy infrastructure is for startups to not only launch, but also to scale.We begin with a spotlight conversation featuring David Cameron, a veteran American lawyer and founder of the Hong Kong-based firm DCLO. Drawing on over 16 years of experience - including stints at global firms like Linklaters and Allen & Overy - David offers a candid view of the legal and compliance challenges that early-stage startups in Hong Kong face. While it’s relatively easy to incorporate a company, he warns that many founders underestimate the value of early legal guidance. Legal services are often seen as costly overhead rather than strategic investment, creating risks that only surface when it’s too late. He highlights a gap in the legal services market - between large international firms that price out startups, and local firms that may lack cross-border expertise - leaving founders without adequate support during critical growth phases.The discussion then broadens with guests Syed Musheer Ahmed, Managing Director of FinStep Asia, and Joshua Chu, a prominent fintech and Web3 lawyer in Hong Kong. Together, they unpack the broader structural issues that hinder Hong Kong’s startup ecosystem. They argue that while Hong Kong has built impressive infrastructure - such as Science Park, Cyberport, and startup grant schemes - what’s missing is a centralized support platform that can connect founders to mentors, business advisors, and practical operational resources. Musheer and Joshua call for a public-private partnership that could act as a coordination hub - bridging fragmented initiatives and helping startups access capital, advice, and networks more efficiently.The conversation also touches on the cultural and mindset gaps within the ecosystem. Drawing comparisons to innovation hubs like Singapore, Bangalore, and Silicon Valley, the guests reflect on Hong Kong’s more risk-averse, academic-driven approach to entrepreneurship. Joshua notes that founders often stay in echo chambers, delaying commercialization in pursuit of perfection, while Musheer emphasizes the need to build founder communities with strong peer-to-peer support and mentorship.Ultimately, the episode explores a central question: What kind of startup hub does Hong Kong want to be? Rather than chasing the Silicon Valley model, the speakers suggest Hong Kong should play to its strengths - finance, deal structuring, cross-border access - and cultivate a culture of execution, business acumen, and founder-driven collaboration.The Regulatory Ramblings podcast is brought to you by The University of Hong Kong's Reg/Tech Lab (Building Better Financial Systems), HKU-SCF FinTech Academy, Asia Global Institute, and HKU-edX Professional Certificate in FinTech, with support from HKU Faculty of Law. The program is led by Douglas Arner and hosted by Ajay Shamdasani. For more details about the authors and links, please visit: hkufintech.com/rrHKU FinTech is the leading fintech research and education in Asia. Learn more at www.hkufintech.com.
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About Regulatory Ramblings

Welcome to Regulatory Ramblings, a podcast from the HKU FinTech team at The University of Hong Kong on the intersection of all things pertaining to finance, technology, law and regulation. Hosted by The Reg/Tech Lab, HKU-Standard Chartered FinTech Academy, Asia Global Institute and the HKU-edX Professional Certificate in FinTech, with support from the HKU Faculty of Law. Join us as we hear from luminaries across multiple fields and professions as they share their candid thoughts in a stress-free environment - rather than the soundbites one typically hears from the mainstream press.
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