Key takeaways

• On Monday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) held an open forum on innovation in financial technology (“FinTech”) as part of its ongoing project to foster collaboration and understanding between regulators and industry participants.
• During the various panels, industry members, academics, consultants and regulators agreed that FinTech innovations, such as digital wealth management, online lending and blockchain technology, have the potential to increase transparency and mitigate the risk of harm to consumers and investors. That said, privacy and cyber risks still pose concerns.
• The forum demonstrated the SEC’s increasing steps to play a lead regulatory role in the FinTech space, as echoed by Commissioner Piwowar, and it appears that the Commission is focused on how to adapt the securities law regulatory framework to new financial services models driven by technology.