FinTech - Unbearably Lithe or Reasonably Agile? – A Critical Legal Approach from the German Perspective

• Published in: European business law review 2020, Vol.31 (1), p.3-32
• Main Author: Deipenbrock, Gudula
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0959-6941; 0959-6941
• DOI: 10.54648/EULR2020002

The revolutionary disruptive digital transformation in financial markets - a scenario more challenging than the 2007/2008 financial crisis - requires swift, agile but sustainable responses by the law. Mapping and analysing the plethora of legal implications of rapidly further evolving financial technology have gained momentum. The paper aims to contribute to it. Focus is on the German view. The following questions have inspired the analysis: How might FinTech best be defined and its most important manifestations best be systematized for legal purposes? Have the most pressing legal issues been addressed, so far? The paper considers the legal challenges of FinTech as huge, reaching far beyond financial markets. It argues that artificial intelligence and machine learning deserve utmost attention particularly in this context. The paper postulates that the law - being well-equipped to control the complex, constantly morphing risks of financial innovation while allowing exploiting its benefits - shall not just react to but lead the transformation. The present author considers particularly legal academia responsible for continuously steering and shaping a balanced and objective discourse leading to adequate legal responses in the realm of FinTech. It is time to reassert the crucial role of law in times of deep technological change not only in financial markets.