The biggest regulatory obstacles blocking the development of FinTech across the EU are prudential rules, AML regulations and data protection procedures, according to new research.
The research was conducted by FECIF, the pan-European trade association for Financial Advisers and Intermediaries.
In the survey a total of 11 national associations participated, covering 9 core EU countries with cumulative populations of over 350 million and contributing over 70% of the EU‘s GDP.
It found that in most EU countries FinTechs predominantly deal with payment services and
Insurance. Credit and capital raising models are also more notabe in the German market, according to FECIF Secretary General Paul Stanfield.
He said “Whilst in the majority of surveyed markets, FinTtechs have to operate under the same regulatory framework, some countries (e.g. Austria, Italy, Poland) exhibit deficiencies in this regard. This could obviously lead to consumer detriment if this area is not addressed quickly.”
FinTech companies are also regularly breaching the rules in the French market, the survey found, which highlights another source of consumer protection risk.
“This was one of our now twice-yearly surveys, which analyse the key issues of, and impacts on, the European advisory sector,” FECIF’s Vice-Chairman Jiří Šindelář confirmed. “By utilising the vast spread, expertise and experiences of our membership we are able to conduct market-leading and often unique research on a bi-annual basis. This is of considerable value to our members and also all other stakeholders, where it is possible and appropriate to circulate the data more widely.”
FECIF’s previous survey explained how the MiFID II and IDD regulations were dramatically changing inducement rules in many countries – often for the worse from a business perspective.
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