Call for Papers: Fintech Startups and Incumbent Players: Policy Challenges and Opportunities

BLPB readers, the deadline (Oct 18, 2019) is fast approaching for what looks to be a very interesting conference on Fintech Startups and Incumbent Players: Policy Challenges and Opportunities, organized by the Oxford Business Law Blog and the Law, Finance & Technology project at the University of Hamburg. 

A brief description is below. Call for papers is here: Download Call-for-Papers-Fintech-Workshop-in-Oxford-27-03-2020

The potential of financial technology for innovation and growth is well-established by now. Yet startups often face many regulatory challenges in the early years, obstructing market access. Technology firms and incumbent financial institutions are experimenting with new solutions to this problem, often establishing co-operative linkages one with the other. At the same time, governments and regulators have introduced special frameworks that may facilitate the newcomers’ market entry. Among these are regulatory 'sandboxes', which provide for a safe experimentation space allowing new market participants to test their services in the real market with a reduced regulatory burden, but under close scrutiny of the supervisor. Governments are continuing to experiment with other formats to help new market entrants with the regulatory complexity, including through incubators and mentorship programmes.

The 4th Oxford Business Law Blog Conference, co-organized by the University of Oxford, the University of Hamburg and the European Banking Institute, will put together high-level academics, regulators and practitioners involved with these issues, with the objective of evaluating these different initiatives.