The European Commission published an action plan on FinTech, as part of a broader package of measures on the Capital Markets Union (CMU). The FinTech Action Plan follows a public consultation in 2017, to which Insurance Europe responded. It is in line with a recently leaked draft of the action plan (see PAC-18-037).
The relevant documents published are as follows:
- Text of the action plan https://ec.europa.eu/info/files/180308-action-plan-fintech_en
- Press release http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-18-1403_en.htm?locale=en
- Frequently asked questions http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-18-1406_en.htm?locale=en
- Factsheet https://ec.europa.eu/info/files/180308-action-plan-fintech-factsheet_en
The Action Plan lists a total of 19 legislative and non-legislative actions that the Commission intends to initiate until Q2 2019, structured around three main headings:
- Enabling innovative business models to reach EU scale
- 1.1 Enabling innovative business models to scale-up across the EU through clear and converging licensing requirements
- 1.2 Increasing competition and cooperation between market players through common standards and interoperable solutions
- 1.3 Facilitating the scaling up of innovative business models across the EU through innovation facilitators
- Supporting the uptake of technological innovation in the financial sector
- 2.1 Reviewing the fitness of our regulation for new technologies in the financial sector
- 2.2 Removing obstacles hindering the use of cloud services
- 2.3 Enabling FinTech applications with the EU Blockchain initiative
- 2.4 Building capability and knowledge among regulators and supervisors in an EU FinTech Lab
- 2.5 Leveraging technology to support distribution of retail investment products across the Single Market
- Enhancing security and integrity of the financial sector