Digital Banking, Payment Systems & FinTech

State of play: pre-legislative phase

Level 1

Commission

• 8 March 2018, the Commission published the Fintech Action Plan aimed at promoting both the digital single market and Fintech.
• 20 June 2018, the EU Fintech Lab held its first session and discussed cloud outsourcing.
• 1 July 2019, EIOPA launched a consultation on guidelines on outsourcing to cloud service providers.
• 13 December 2019, the Commission published the final report of the Expert Group on Regulatory Obstacles to Financial Innovation (ROFIEG) containing 30 recommendations on regulation, innovation and finance. The publication was accompanied by a Q&A on the report.
• 19 February 2020, the Commission published a Communication on “Shaping Europe’s digital future”, a White Paper on Artificial Intelligence and a Communication on “A European strategy for data”, as part of its work on the digital economy.
• 3 April 2020, the European Commission launched a consultation on a new digital finance strategy for Europe and a FinTech action plan.
• 24 September 2020, the Commission published the Digital Finance Strategy.
• 2 February 2021, the Commission has sent a request to the ESAs for technical advice on digital finance and related issues.

ESAs work

• 29 June 2020, the three ESAs published their responses to the Commission’s consultation on a new Digital Finance Strategy for Europe: EBA, ESMA, EIOPA.
• 18 July 2019, the EBA published a report on regulatory perimeter, regulatory status and authorization approaches in relation to FinTech activities.

Next steps

• In 2021, as part of a broader initiative on AML/CFT, the Commission will propose to harmonize rules on customer onboarding and will build on the upcoming review of e-IDAS to implement an interoperable cross-border framework for digital identities.
• In 2021, the Commission will present a strategy on supervisory data.
• By mid-2022, the Commission will present a legislative proposal for a new open finance framework, building on and in full alignment with broader data access initiatives.
• By 2024, the Commission will explore the need to introduce additional harmonized licencing and passporting regimes, work with the ESAs to strengthen EFIF, and establish an EU digital finance platform to foster cooperation between private and public stakeholders.
• By 2024, the Commission aims to ensure clarity as regards supervisory expectations about how the legislative framework on financial services should apply to artificial intelligence applications.
• By 2024 The Commission will amend EU legislation to ensure that publicly disclosed information is available in standardised and machine-readable formats, and will set up an EU-funded infrastructure for public disclosure.
• By 2024, creation of an open finance framework.
• By 2024, adaptation of the EU prudential and conduct regulation and supervision.

State of play: non-legislative phase

Level 1

Parliament

• 26 May 2016, the Parliament adopted a resolution on virtual currencies.
• 19 April 2018, the Parliament adopted the fifth anti-money laundering directive (AMLD V), which included new measures related to virtual currencies.

Commission

• 19 December 2019, the Commission launched a consultation on an EU regulatory framework for crypto assets.
• 20 January 2021, the Commission and the ECB released a joint statement on the cooperation on the digital euro.

Level 2

• 2 June 2016, ESMA launched a three-month consultation on distributed ledger technology applied to securities markets.

Commission

• 8 November 2017, the Commission launched a call for tender on the feasibility of an EU blockchain infrastructure.
• 1 February 2018, the Commission launched the EU Blockchain Observatory and Forum.

ECB

• 2 October 2020, the ECB published a report on Digital Euro.

Level 3

• 12 February 2018, the ESAs published a joint statement to warn customers on the risks of buying virtual currencies.

State of play: published in the Official Journal (L 151/15) on 7 June 2019

Level 1

Commission

• 13 September 2017, the Commission published a cybersecurity package.
• 26 March 2018, the Commission opened a consultation on a proposal to create a cybersecurity competence network with a European Cybersecurity Research and Competence Centre.

Parliament

• 10 July 2018, the ITRE Committee voted on the proposal.
• 14 January 2019, the ITRE Committee voted on the text agreed in the trilogue negotiations.

Council

• 8 June 2018, the Council adopted its position on the Cybersecurity Act.
• 9 April 2019, the Council adopted the Regulation as agreed in the trilogue negotiations.

Trilogue negotiations

• 13 September 2018, negotiations between the Parliament and the Council started.
• 10 December 2018, the Parliament and the Council reached a political agreement.
• 12 March 2019, the Parliament adopted the agreed text in plenary.

Next steps

• To be revised by the new Commission mandate.