Regulators must help shape the conditions for financial innovation rather than stand in its way or chase after it, said Labuan Financial Services Authority (Labuan FSA) Director General Affendi Rashdi.
Delivering the Guest of Honour address at the Asia Fintech Forum 2026 on Friday, he said AI, digital assets and new business models would keep pushing the financial frontier forward.
“Our task as regulator is not to stand in front of that frontier, nor simply follow behind it. It is to help shape the conditions in which innovation can move forward responsibly,” he said.
Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Farrugia struck a similar note. His keynote looked at balancing innovation with effective regulation, drawing on Malta’s crypto-asset ecosystem.
The one-day forum at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur, organised by the Singapore-based Responsible Fintech Institute (RFI), drew more than 600 registrants and over 50 speakers from regulators, banks and fintech firms. It was RFI’s first flagship event outside Singapore.
RFI Chairman Chia Hock Lai said the greater danger for the region was regulatory fragmentation.
“The risk is not that innovation outpaces regulation. The risk is that a dozen regulators solve the same problem a dozen different ways, and the cost of that lands on consumers and on any firm trying to operate across borders,” he said.
The forum opened with sessions on Asean's Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA), which aims to double the region’s digital economy to US$2 trillion. Other sessions covered agentic AI in payments, Islamic fintech, stablecoins and anti-money laundering, digital banking, post-quantum security and real-world asset tokenisation.
Speakers included AEON Bank (M) Berhad Chief Executive Officer Mohammad Ridzuan Abdul Aziz, Webull Malaysia Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Chan and Luno General Manager Aaron Tang. Senior executives from UOB, Maybank Singapore, Siam Commercial Bank, Trust Bank Singapore and Straits Investment Bank also spoke. Remi Technology was the title sponsor, with Sumsub, NexStox, Regtank and VerifyVASP as other sponsors.