New technology will have a “key part” to play in creating a single market in financial services, Lord (Jonathan) Hill has said.
The British commissioner to the European Union, who is responsible for financial services, made the comments in a speech to the European Banking Federation high level conference in Brussels.
He said: “New digital and data technology is transforming the financial sector and challenging traditional business models. A fintech revolution is under way.
“New technology has a key part to play in creating a diverse single market in financial services, and I plan to say more about this in a Green Paper on retail financial services that we will publish later this year.”
Lord Hill added that the government’s “ambitious” action plan on the Capital Markets Union, which would remove cross-border barriers to investment, would be published at the end of this month.
The European Commission has indicated it wants to have the building blocks of the CMU in place by 2019.
Adviser view
Andrew Reeves, director of Bedfordshire-based The Investment Coach, said: “Most neutral observers say financial services is behind most other industries, and the reason for that is people fear the regulations. But once that’s swept away there will be a speedy catch-up.”
