Research at GIDAFS
The GIDAFS research agenda connects financial systems with the laws, institutions, and technologies that shape them. Its nine areas of focus cover both established financial practices and the regulatory questions raised by digital change.
Our aim is to support analysis that is useful to researchers, financial professionals, and public authorities. The agenda extends across banking, nonbank finance, digital assets, and public-private partnerships.
Accounting, Reporting & Audit
This area focuses on the quality and reliability of financial information. It covers the application of International Financial Reporting Standards, internal controls, and audit methodologies in complex financial environments.
Application of IFRS in complex or high-risk activities.
Controls to reduce information asymmetry and financial manipulation.
Audit methodologies for digital and algorithmic processes.
Evaluation of reporting practices, standards, and control systems.
Financial Regulation & Public Governance
This area examines the design of financial regulation, prudential supervision, and public financial management. It addresses how institutions can respond proportionately to risk while maintaining effective oversight.
Bank inspection, supervisory frameworks, and the regulation of nonbank financial institutions are central topics. Leasing markets and the links between banks, insurers, pension funds, and other institutional investors are also within scope.
Risk-based supervision and inspection approaches.
Regulatory fragmentation and unnecessary compliance burdens.
Financial stability assessment for institutional decision-making.
Public financial management and international regulatory practice.
Law & Regulatory Policy
This area addresses the legal frameworks governing finance, artificial intelligence, and digital assets. Its focus is the relationship between technological development, legal obligations, and regulatory accountability.
Legal approaches to financial innovation and AI.
Legislative and regulatory proposals informed by international standards.
LegalTech and digital tools for regulated environments.
Legal mechanisms relevant to insurance fraud and financial disputes.
Compliance & Financial Crime Prevention
This area focuses on the effectiveness of anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT), due diligence, and fraud prevention. It considers how financial monitoring can better distinguish suspicious activity from legitimate transactions.
Financial monitoring models and compliance effectiveness.
Know-your-customer procedures and due diligence.
False positives, overblocking, and continuity of legitimate payments.
Digital financial crime and methods of fraud prevention.
Digital Assets & Financial Infrastructure
This area examines the regulation of digital assets and their relationship with the wider financial system. It covers the institutional, legal, and risk-management questions raised by new forms of financial infrastructure.
The agenda includes decentralized finance (DeFi), central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), stablecoins, tokenization, and digital securities. International comparisons and the application of Financial Action Task Force standards are part of this focus.
Regulatory models for digital and crypto assets.
Asset tokenization and digital securities.
Stablecoins, CBDCs, and decentralized financial systems.
Digital identification and financial infrastructure.
Artificial Intelligence & Digital Transformation
This area considers how AI can support financial analysis and supervision while remaining explainable and subject to meaningful human oversight. It also examines the risks of bias, algorithmic errors, and systemic effects.
The research agenda includes AI governance, regulatory technology (RegTech), and supervisory technology (SupTech). It extends to experimental regulatory models and approaches that combine financial risk analysis with legal safeguards.
Explainable AI, algorithmic accountability, and human oversight.
AI ethics, bias, and model-related risks.
RegTech and SupTech applications in monitoring and supervision.
Safeguards against excessive blocking, including whitelist-based approaches to continuity of public-law payments.
Insurance & Financial Security
This area connects insurance regulation, financial risk, and mechanisms for resolving disputes. It covers claims processes, loss assessment methodologies, internal controls, and the prevention of insurance fraud.
Insurance regulation and compliance methodologies.
Claims management, loss assessment, and dispute resolution frameworks.
Fraud mechanisms and investigative methodologies.
InsurTech, digital evidence, and automated claims processes.
Government Contracting & Financial Control
This area concerns financial accountability in organizations performing government contracts and participating in public-private partnerships. It covers accounting, documentation, internal controls, and the management of contract-related risks.
Research topics include the Federal Acquisition Regulation and its defense supplement (FAR/DFARS), Defense Contract Audit Agency guidance and audit expectations, and generally accepted accounting principles. These are examined in relation to the requirements of the relevant contracting environment.
Cost documentation, allocation, pricing, and contract compliance.
Risk-based internal controls and audit readiness.
AI and RegTech for transaction monitoring and anomaly detection.
Financial models and controls for public-private partnerships and concessions.
Financial Stability & Capital Markets
This area focuses on financial risk, funding structures, and the stability of banks and nonbank financial institutions. It covers liquidity, treasury management, asset and liability management, and capital market development.
Credit, market, operational, liquidity, and systemic risks.
Treasury management and asset and liability management.
Investment funds, alternative investment models, and securitization.
Infrastructure finance, municipal finance, and regional development.
Cross-Cutting Priorities
Across these areas, the Institute’s priorities include financial transparency, the harmonization of standards, sustainable development, and accountable institutional decisions. Environmental, social, and governance considerations form part of its research scope.
International comparisons provide a way to examine how a regulatory approach works in different legal and market settings. Attention to those differences is essential when considering its use elsewhere.
Explore a Research Collaboration
We welcome proposals that connect these research areas to a clearly defined question. Tell us about the issue, the available evidence, and the contribution you would like to make.