The European Fintech Alliance is concerned about the EC’s regulatory expert group

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The European Fintech Alliance (EFA) has voiced concerns about the expert group on Regulatory Obstacles to Financial Innovation recently introduced by the European Commission (EC).

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The group was established as part of the EC’s fintech action plan, which was introduced in March 2018 to help increase competition and innovation in the European financial sector. It aims to create an environment where fintech products and solutions can be rolled out rapidly across the EU to benefit from the economies of scale of the Single Market. The list of members was released last week, and includes both expert individuals and organizations.

However, there is only one fintech-focused organization represented in the group. The group has a total of 14 members: Five are individuals, and the rest are organizations including two universities, AXA, BBVA, Barclays, the German association of savings banks, ING, the LSE, and France Fintech.

As such, there is only one member that directly represents fintech firms, and the EFA is now worried that the regulatory concerns of small companies will not be heard within the group. The EFA expects the results of the group to be biased toward traditional institutions, according to its chair, Marcus Laube.

These fears seem to be justified, as large institutions and fintechs have very different struggles.It seems likely that the bigger financial institutions (FIs) in the group won’t adjust their views to represent smaller players. And, since the two often face challenges that don’t overlap, largely because of differences in resources and regulatory obligations, the group may come to conclusions that won’t be suitable for fintechs.

The EC should reevaluate its choices here, and perhaps add more members that accurately represent fintechs, in order to make the group less biased and ensure that all voices are heard.