AIR White Papers

AIR hosted a public call for papers to stimulate thought leadership in the financial ecosystem regarding GenAI. The three winning papers reimagined consumer financial protection, explored ethical frameworks and sought to balance innovation and risk for KYC onboarding. Authors represented Consumer Reports, Encompass Corporation and Aboitiz Data Innovation.

This paper, produced in partnership with Gattaca Horizons LLC, aims to provide a comprehensive review of earned wage access (EWA) services, their potential to mitigate harms associated with certain traditional financial products, and the unique challenges they pose.

AIR and Google Cloud jointly released this paper exploring how model risk management (MRM) frameworks and established governance practices can be applied to manage risks for financial institutions in gen AI contexts. This paper expands upon a previous white paper released by AIR and Google Cloud on the topic of MRM.

This paper underscores the essential role Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs) play in supporting marginalized communities, while offering a road map for these institutions to navigate their technological shortcomings and remain competitive in the digital financial services landscape.

This brief is a companion to the white paper titled "A Purposeful Journey into Digitization: Lessons Learned from the MDI Digital Modernization Pilot & ConnectTech Programs." It outlines key actions stakeholders can take to help advance solutions and further support MDIs in their digital transformation journey.

Financial regulatory bodies face significant challenges due to rapid technological evolution and increasing market complexity. Authored by AIR Chief Innovation Officer Nick Cook, this paper addresses key aspects of technology acquisition, data management, and the cultural and organizational shifts necessary for successful digital transformation.

By purchasing offsets in voluntary carbon markets (VCMs), corporates fund projects globally that avoid GHG emissions or remove CO2 equivalents (CO2e) from the atmosphere. VCMs provide a market-based mechanism for corporates to fund climate projects globally.

In March 2024, AIR partnered with the Aspen Institute to convene two roundtables with a cross-section of digital identity experts. This brief summarizes the dialogue and next steps, and extends an invitation to engage with this work.

Authored by AIR Senior Advisor and former global regulator F. Christopher Calabia, this paper examines the transformative potential and risks associated with the deployment of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in the financial services sector.

The paper looks at a new crypto token that incentivizes the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere at gigaton scale using direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS).

The paper argues that MRM guidance, given its broad, principles-based approach, continues to provide an appropriate framework for assessing financial institutions’ management of model risk, even for Risk AI/ML models.

The paper, released with the National Bankers Association and Visa Economic Empowerment Institute, lays out a case for using a shared-technology model to help Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs) enhance digital capability and product offerings.

Written by former Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Chief Counsel and AIR Advisory Council member Amy Friend, this paper seeks to analyze and identify the key drivers of the success of the FCA’s innovation initiatives. We at AIR hope it will be an invaluable source of both information and inspiration for the FCA’s regulatory peers throughout the world.

Financial regulators face an enormous challenge: the industry they oversee is digitizing so fast that it’s hard for them to keep pace. They will have to convert to digital age methods or run the risk of failing to detect risks and problems in the financial system. This paper is a Request for Comment (RFC) calling for gradual but urgent conversion of the financial regulatory system to a “digitally-native” framework that equips regulators with the data and analytical tools they need to protect consumers, combat financial crime, and assure financial stability and resilience.

50 years of traditional US regulation aimed at promoting financial inclusion and fairness for consumers has largely failed. This series of six Harvard papers argues that new technology can both protect consumers from harm and widen their access to affordable financial services.

As digital technology transforms financial services, regulators need new ways to accelerate their own learning and decision making, while ensuring that their work is always careful, deliberative, objective and transparent. This paper reflects confidential interviews with US regulators concerned that some government rules and protocols unnecessarily impede their ability to keep pace with technology change in the industry they oversee. Written as a pro bono project by the Buckley Firm, it offers possible steps to address these challenges.