Jacqui Hatfield and Melanie Shone have recently written an article titled The FCA and FinTech: playing by the rules to support FinTech disruption, examining the role of the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in supporting the disruptive innovation of FinTech.
The UK has one of the largest concentrations of emergent FinTech companies in the world and there is strong political will for the UK to become the “premier location for financial technology businesses by 2020”. The article examines whether the FCA is doing enough to support this goal. The authors conclude that:
Given the pace of innovation in the FinTech space, it is essential that regulatory rules are as technologically neutral and forward thinking as possible – and that these are combined with proactive industry engagement and appropriate practical guidance from the FCA to provide much-needed regulatory certainty… We’d like to see the FCA as a whole engage with FinTech innovation – and with all market players, especially larger established financial institutions.
If you would like to discuss any of the topics raised in the article further, please contact Jacqui Hatfield on 0203 116 2971 or jhatfield@reedsmith.com