On 18 July 2019, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published a report illustrating the findings of an analysis on issues relating to access to the market for FinTech firms. The analysis focused on the monitoring of national developments on the regulatory perimeter; the national regulatory status of FinTech firms; and the approaches followed by Member State national competent authorities (NCAs) when granting authorisation under CRD IV, PSD2 and EMD2.
The results of the monitoring exercise conducted in relation to the regulatory perimeter for activities and services relating to FinTech innovative business models or delivery mechanisms show a steady scenario with very little national legislative activity affecting the regulatory perimeter of the NCAs.
The analysis of the national regulatory status of FinTech firms with innovative business models or delivery mechanisms shows two developments:
- the move of certain activities – notably payment initiation services and account information services – from not being subject to any regulatory regime to being subject to PSD2 after its transposition into national law; and
- with the exception of crowdfunding and to some extent activities related to crypto-assets, the ancillary/non-financial nature of the services and activities provided by FinTech firms not subject to any regulatory regime.
In the light of the above findings on the regulatory perimeter and regulatory status, the EBA’s view at this stage is to continue observing the activities in the market as part of its mandate to monitor innovation and the regulatory perimeter, the EBA also considers that it is not necessary to put forward any specific recommendation.
