The Role of Sectoral Regulators and other State Actors in Formulating Novel and Alternative Pro-Competition Mechanisms in Fintech

Motivated by an economic agenda, governments and regulators are using methods other than traditional regulation to attract fintech business to their jurisdiction and to promote competition in digital markets. These mechanisms include visa schemes for fintech talent, research and development incentives, and schemes for accessing the finance crucially needed by fintech entrepreneurs to grow and scale up. The hand-holding role of regulators supporting fintech innovators on their journey including the regulatory sandbox global phenomenon is also examined. Newer developments demonstrate how regulators are increasingly creative in directly challenging fintech entrepreneurs to innovate for the public good with digital sandboxes, hackthons and datasprints. However, regulatory agencies have a delicate balancing act and ought to calibrate their competition promotion agenda to ensure appropriate treatment of varied market actors including BigTechs in a platform economy. This debate furthers discussion around the complex evolving and future goals of both fintech competition policy and financial regulation