The British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) will sponsor a regulatory technology (regtech) hackathon planned for later this month in Vancouver.

The one-day event will be part of a conference hosted by the National Crowdfunding Association of Canada (NCFA) on Nov. 28.

The competition will focus on several major areas where tech-driven solutions could help industry firms meet their regulatory requirements, or improve the quality of regulation itself, including:

> using smart contracts and blockchain technology in equity crowdfunding;
> improving the quality, efficiency and integrity of customer due diligence processes;
> enhancing know-your-client (KYC) processes;
> deploying the blockchain in investor protection and literacy initiatives; and
> creating solutions to monitor and track developments in securities regulation and their impact on registration and compliance requirements.

Submissions will be judged based on innovation, user experience, pitch, and viability, the BCSC says in its announcement.

“The BCSC is a strong supporter of industry-led innovations and solutions. We are excited to be a part of this event, because we believe it has the potential to generate some truly novel and exciting ideas to help advance regulatory technologies,” says Mark Wang, director capital markets regulation, BCSC, in a statement.

“We encourage entrepreneurs and regulatory experts, innovators, data analysts, designers, and developers to join us in helping discover and launch some amazing B.C. regtech-focused projects,” adds Craig Asano, founder and CEO, NCFA.

The Ontario Securities Commission hosted a regtech hackathon last year in Toronto.

Read: OSC considering use of emerging technologies