GAO encourages increased collaboration in fintech regulation

Fintech GAO Compliance Regulation

In March, the Government Accountability Office ("GAO") issued a report addressing aspects of the fintech marketplace, including the benefits and risks for consumers; current regulatory oversight and challenges; and recommendations for federal action. The report notes that fintech products – such as payments, lending, wealth management, and distributed ledger technologies, among others – generally produce benefits to consumers in the form of lower costs and easier access. Nonetheless, fintech innovation comes with associated risks as certain products may not be covered by existing consumer protection laws, and the extent to which fintech providers are subject to federal and state oversight varies. According to the GAO, fintech providers note that complying with the “fragmented” federal and state requirements is “costly and time consuming.” The report emphasizes the need for regulators to increase collaboration to address key concerns in the fintech market, such as financial account aggregation. The GAO also highlights the efforts other jurisdictions have taken to increase fintech innovation and recommends U.S. federal agencies consider successful foreign regulatory approaches, such as “regulatory sandboxes,” which allow fintech companies to offer products on a limited scale with certain regulatory relief.

Of note, Arizona recently became the first U.S. state to introduce a “regulatory sandbox” for fintech products marketed and sold to Arizona consumers. See InfoBytes summary here.