Introduction: Data and its governance in the financial services sector

Abstract

Data fuel the development of artificial intelligence and are one of the most contested resources in the digital economy. But data have always been a fundamental source in the development of business in the financial services sector, whether in securities trading or consumer insurance. Over many years, the financial services industry has invested in data acquisition, storage, transfer and monetisation. The industry's data strategy was developed as a core part of business development and internal governance long before the modern information systems of blockchain and data analytics were introduced. Data have also long been an asset that the financial sector has paid to possess and monetise, and the huge mass of data that has been built up over the years is something that competitors within or outside the sector are keen to have access to, as we have seen in Open Banking. Financial firms are well aware of data as a competitive asset class and have created strategic defences to protect their interests. The book offers three contributions to the field of data governance in the digital economy. We use the financial services sector, one of the most advanced sectors, first to show the relationship between data and law by identifying different kinds of data ownership and the policy and legal tools used for owners' or users' protection, and secondly to identify the tools available for constructing a multi-layered public-private partnership for data governance. In addition, the book provides assistance for academics, practitioners and policy makers as they construct matrix systems for data governance in the financial services sectors with a view to creating a more standardised data governance and promoting a digital economy.