The role of blockchain regulatory technology: lessons from Project Maison

This paper outlines the potential inherent in the application of blockchain technology for regulatory compliance. Such technology has often been touted as offering greater degrees of transparency and automation to lower compliance costs and ease regulatory burdens and yet few examples currently exist, which have been directly driven by regulatory authorities. We draw upon Project Maison, a protype blockchain for digital regulatory reporting of mortgages developed in conjunction with UK regulator and banks, which despite having much potential was not scaled into production. The study highlights, potential operational benefits in using blockchain for these purposes and how this approach may come at a perceived cost of increased supervision and loss of control. Specifically, we outline, risks, use cases governance challenges and trade-offs inherent in applying a decentralized approach to regulatory reporting.