Digital Finance and Regulatory Competition

Digital Finance and Regulatory Competition is a book addressing the question of whether the world’s leading financial centres – Hong Kong, London, and New York – engaged in regulatory competition with one another through their formulation of the rules to govern distributed ledger technology (DLT)-based financial products and services in their respective jurisdictions during the period 2008-2022. In light of this, the book furnishes a clear and cohesive framework to understand the influence of regulatory competition in the world’s major financial centres, utilising a narrative lens built on a comparative study of legal, regulatory, and policy instruments. The outcome is an exhaustive and thought-provoking analysis which distils observations regarding the regulation of DLT-based financial products and services and the potential implications for the future regulation of other novel technologies in the financial services industry.

The following issues and topics concerning the intersection of regulatory competition and fintech have been included:- emergence and impact of DLT, its core features, types, use cases and applications in the financial services industry;
- origins of regulatory competition, from Charles Tiebout to the regulatory races to the top and bottom;
- formulation of a definitional matrix which provides a cohesive framework for understanding regulatory competition;
- regulatory frameworks for DLT-based financial products and services in Hong Kong, London, and New York; and
- potential impact of regulatory competition on the future regulation of financial products and services underlined by novel technologies.

The analysis is particularly enlightening in its consideration of the extent to which jurisdictions feel motivated to compete for the benefits which may result from developing appropriate laws and regulations to govern DLT-based financial products and services.

One of the very few studies covering international regulatory competition in the fintech field, this nonpareil book closely evaluates the extent to which authorities are likely to relax, undercut, or strengthen their regulation of novel and burgeoning technologies in finance-related fields of law. It will deepen the understanding of lawmakers, policymakers, and regulators, providing pragmatic insights into the potential impact of regulatory competition in this age of rapid technological advancement. Practitioners will benefit from the in-depth analysis of the regulation of DLT-based products and services in the world’s leading financial centres who ultimately influence the formulation of financial regulation elsewhere. The intersection between the regulation of DLT-based financial products and services and international regulatory competition is prime for further debate and discussion.