Dep. Governor Awadzi expounds BoG’s technological evolution from eFASS to the Online Regulatory Analytic Surveillance System

Delivering a keynote address at the prestigious Cambridge Suptech Week 2023, Mrs. Elsie Addo Awadzi, Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, illuminated the ever-evolving global financial landscape. Against a backdrop of dynamic business models and technological breakthroughs, she emphasized the eroding boundaries within traditional regulatory frameworks.

In navigating the intricate interplay of opportunities and risks presented by emerging technologies, supervisory authorities globally are recalibrating their capabilities. The Bank of Ghana, as a regulatory force overseeing banks and diverse financial institutions, has, over time, committed to technological investments to fortify its prudential, market conduct, and AML/CFT supervisory functions.

Reflecting on the adoption of the Electronic Financial Analysis and Surveillance System (eFASS) in 2007–2008, Mrs. Awadzi acknowledged its efficacy while acknowledging its constraints, particularly in accommodating new entrants and adapting to evolving reporting needs.

Amid the management of a systemic banking crisis from 2017 to 2019, data integrity challenges surfaced in failed financial entities, prompting a comprehensive study of Suptech models across global economies. This exploration ultimately led to the design and implementation of the Online Regulatory Analytic Surveillance System (ORASS) from 2019 to 2022.

Mrs. Awadzi delineated ORASS’s key attributes, underscoring its scope, modular functionality, and integration capabilities with regulated institutions’ core systems. Despite encountering delays linked to pandemic-induced travel restrictions, the full implementation of ORASS has yielded discernible advantages.

These benefits encompass the integration of the supervisory cycle, the consolidation of prudential data, improved decision support mechanisms, and the collection of granular-level data for nuanced insights. Furthermore, ORASS has proven instrumental not only in supporting supervisory functions but also in augmenting monetary policy operations and foreign exchange market surveillance.

Mrs. Awadzi, while lauding the project’s success, candidly shared valuable lessons learned. These encompassed the need for synchronized timelines with regulated institutions’ preparedness, challenges in implementing granular-level data modules, cybersecurity considerations, and the importance of appropriate system specifications.

In conclusion, the Bank of Ghana’s experience with Suptech exemplifies the transformative potential it carries in bolstering supervisory efficiency and effectiveness. Mrs. Awadzi’s discourse provided nuanced insights, reinforcing the symbiotic relationship between technology and supervisory judgment for sustainable financial stability, integrity, and inclusion.