FINTECH REGULATION AND FINANCIAL INNOVATION

The course is part of the Jean Monnet Chair in Digitalisation in EU Financial Studies (EUDIFIN).
The EUDIFIN Chair contributes to the political and scholarly debate revolving around the challenges the European Union faces to make a proper use of financial innovation to further market integration and risk sharing in the internal financial market (both key objectives of the drive to build the Capital Markets Union). The Chair aims to integrate such cutting-edge developments into three courses: “International Financial regulation”, “Banking and Financial Markets Law”, and “FinTech Law and Financial Innovation” (36 hours each = 30h “foundational” lectures + 6h “in focus” lectures).
The three courses hence branch out three trajectories, which are projected at: i) studying the revolutionary changes in the structure of financial markets and how they relate to the general framework and the principles that govern EU financial law and supervision (institutional trajectory); ii) deepening the studies relating to the regulatory objectives of EU financial law, supervisory and regulatory powers and financial integration. It will do so by dealing with the EU market integration legislative initiatives vis-à-vis the break-throughs in data processing and sharing technology (substantive trajectory); and iii) addressing the increasing labour market demand for professional expertise in the ambit of advanced data analytics and cloud computing and their application to financial markets and financial products (methodological trajectory).
The course Fintech Law and financial innovation ensures that students gain theoretical and methodological tools as to understand the process of digitalization in finance and how this process is affecting market integration in Europe. To reach this goal, the course is going to be both interactive and interdisciplinary in order to deepen students understanding of the law and economics of Fintech and encourage their critical thinking as to grasp the EU policy implications.
The course is organized as to equip students with legal, economic, business, technological perspectives and methodologies to understand financial innovation and digitalization.
In particular, the following topics will be analyzed:
Theory of regulation (risk regulation, meta regulation, sand-boxes, ..); EU agenda, policies and approaches relating to financial innovation; the marketplace, the incumbents, and the business case and strategies of the incoming technology-driven players with emphasis on the underlying economics, its technology, and the competition; DLT and BlockChain; algorithms, big data and IA; intermediation, dis-intermediation and layering; theories of disruption; industry drivers and product areas - such as money and payments, lending, and investment, smart contracts, money law.

1. knowledge
1.1 knowledge of the theory of regulation
1.2 Knowledge of the EU policies relating to digitalisation.
1.3 Understanding of new technologies and their applications (blockchain, smart contracts).
1.4 Understanding of the new challenges associated to the platform economy.

2. Ability to apply knowledge
2.1 Ability to understand the challenges of the innovation process.
2.2 Ability to frame the challenges relating to the process of integration and creation of the Single Market.
2.3 Ability to understand the interaction between technology, law, and economics.

3. Critical thinking
3.1 Ability to understand the basis of the technologies.
3.2 Ability to examine complex situations and their impact on the legal framework.
3.3 Ability to identify a balance between the different needs/dynamics of the market .

4. Communication skills
4.1 Ability to express using the legal terms properly.
4.2 Critical and dialogical interaction with the examiners during the examination.

The course builds upon business law

Regulatory theories (risk regulation, meta regulation, sand-boxes, ..);
EU agenda, policies and approaches relating to financial innovation;
the marketplace, the incumbents, and the business case and strategies of the incoming technology-driven players with emphasis on the underlying economics, its technology, and the competition;
DLT and BlockChain;
algorithms, big data and IA;
intermediation, dis-intermediation and layering;
theories of disruption; industry drivers and product areas - such as money and payments, lending, and investment;
smart contracts,
money law.

Routledge Handbook of Financial Technology and Law, Edited By Iris H-Y Chiu, Gudula Deipenbrock, 2021

The assessment method consists in a written exam made by open questions and mimicking real case situations.
Regarding grade grading (mode by which grades will be assigned), regardless of the attending or non-attending mode:
A. scores in the 18-22 range will be awarded in the presence of:
- sufficient knowledge and applied comprehension skills with reference to the syllabus;
- limited ability to collect and/or interpret data, making independent judgments;
- sufficient communication skills, especially in relation to the use of specific language pertaining to the
economic operation of public services;
B. scores in the 23-26 range will be awarded in the presence of:
- fair knowledge and applied comprehension skills with reference to the syllabus;
- discrete ability to collect and/or interpret data, making independent judgments;
- fair communication skills, especially in relation to the use of specific language pertaining to the
economic operation of public services;
C. scores in the 27-30 range will be awarded in the presence of:
- good or very good knowledge and applied comprehension skills with reference to the syllabus;
- good or excellent ability to collect and/or interpret data, making independent judgments;
- fully appropriate communication skills, especially in relation to the use of specific language that
pertaining to the economic operation of public services.
D. honors will be awarded in the presence of applied knowledge and understanding with reference to the
program, judgment and communication skills, excellent.

Lectures and seminars

English

written