Fintech and crypto assets test US regulatory legacy

Significance

Large technology firms and fintech startups are driving the disruptive digitisation of financial services. This threatens incumbents' business models and raises complex regulatory issues around competition, jurisdiction, consumer and investor protection and systemic risk.

Impacts

• Greater regulatory access to firms' data via a platform could shift legal liabilities to the government in the event of failures.
• Crypto assets need a global regulatory regime to overcome jurisdictional arbitrage and their obliviousness to national borders.
• Political stasis over governing crypto assets will leaving traditional financial firms in regulatory limbo.