Asian Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (Asifma) has called on governments to move away from regulations and work on broad principles instead.

To make it clear no one ever went to jail charged with possession of a broad principle.

An Asifma spokesman said companies around the world want to make better use of the large pools of data they have to both cut costs and offer additional services. But governments and regulators in Asia and elsewhere are tightening rules on how that data is used.

Asifma senior associate Paul Hadzewycz said: “Governments in Asia say that they support fintech, and they want fintech firms to enter their market, but data privacy rules are a major stumbling block.”

He urged regulators to avoid an “exhaustive and prescriptive list” of rules and set principles that allow companies to operate “confidently across borders and enter new markets”.

Aside from the privacy rules, companies also face varied, and sometimes conflicting, requirements imposed by financial regulators, privacy commissioners and cyber security bodies in Asia, Hadzewycz said.