Allen & Overy (A&O) has joined forces with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Bank of England in a bid to make regulatory reporting more accurate through the use of technology.

Starting from mid-October, the magic circle firm’s tech incubator Fuse will host the pair’s “Digital Regulatory Reporting” pilot project team, exploring the ways technology could enhance efficiency and tackle the financial obligations related to the regulatory reporting process.

As part of the project, the team will work on the codification of standard requirements so that they become effectively readable and executable by machines, making legal lexicon equally understandable for human lawyers and automated tools.

“Fuse was created to give our lawyers and clients opportunities to touch, feel, and better understand the use of technology. Both A&O’s regulatory practice and our new consulting business look forward to building on our knowledge in this way, ” head of Fuse Shruti Ajitsaria said.

As part of the pilot, the Bank of England and FCA are working with six organisations including Barclays, Credit Suisse, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide, NatWest and Santander.

The project was born out of TechSprint, a two-week event held last November to dig into the potential behind an automated, machine-readable regulatory environment. Several months later, the FCA published a “call for input”, encouraging suggestions and feedback on the role of tech in regulatory reporting.

Fuse, which was launched by the firm in London last year, is currently collaborating with a second cohort of startups, after five new companies joined the three already enrolled in the first slate.

In July, one of the participants, Bloomsbury AI, was acquired by Facebook for around $30m which left a space in the incubator for a new entrant.

The companies currently housed in Fuse are:

  • Kira Systems
  • Neota Logic
  • Regnosys
  • Signal Media
  • Avvoka
  • Legatics
  • Nivaura
  • Bank of England