Global finance is in the middle of a radical transformation fueled by innovative financial technologies. The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the digitization of retail financial services in Europe. Institutional interest and digital asset markets are also growing blurring the boundaries between the token economy and traditional finance. Blockchain, AI, quantum computing and decentralised finance (DeFI) are setting the stage for a global battle of business models and philosophies. The post-Brexit EU cannot afford to ignore the promise of digital finance. But the Union is struggling to keep pace with global innovation hubs, particularly when it comes to experimenting with new digital forms of capital raising. Calibrating the EU digital finance strategy is a balancing act that requires a deep understanding of the factors driving the transformation, be they legal, cultural, political or economic, as well as their many implications. The same FinTech inventions that use AI, machine learning and big data to facilitate access to credit may also establish invisible barriers that further social, racial and religious exclusion. The way digital finance actors source, use, and record information presents countless consumer protection concerns. The EU’s strategic response has been years in the making and, finally, in September 2020 the Commission released a Digital Finance Package. This special issue collects contributions from leading scholars who scrutinize the challenges digital finance presents for the EU internal market and financial market regulation from multiple public policy perspectives. Author contributions adopt a critical yet constructive and solutions-oriented approach. They aim to provide policy-relevant research and ideas shedding light on the complexities of the digital finance promise. They also offer solid proposals for reform of EU financial services law.

Global finance is in the middle of a radical transformation fueled by innovative financial technologies. The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the digitization of retail financial services in Europe. Institutional interest and digital asset markets are also growing blurring the boundaries between the token economy and traditional finance. Blockchain, AI, quantum computing and decentralised finance (DeFI) are setting the stage for a global battle of business models and philosophies. The post-Brexit EU cannot afford to ignore the promise of digital finance. But the Union is struggling to keep pace with global innovation hubs, particularly when it comes to experimenting with new digital forms of capital raising. Calibrating the EU digital finance strategy is a balancing act that requires a deep understanding of the factors driving the transformation, be they legal, cultural, political or economic, as well as their many implications. The same FinTech inventions that use AI, machine learning and big data to facilitate access to credit may also establish invisible barriers that further social, racial and religious exclusion. The way digital finance actors source, use, and record information presents countless consumer protection concerns. The EU’s strategic response has been years in the making and, finally, in September 2020 the Commission released a Digital Finance Package. This special issue collects contributions from leading scholars who scrutinize the challenges digital finance presents for the EU internal market and financial market regulation from multiple public policy perspectives. Author contributions adopt a critical yet constructive and solutions-oriented approach. They aim to provide policy-relevant research and ideas shedding light on the complexities of the digital finance promise. They also offer solid proposals for reform of EU financial services law.

A comprehensive overview of the governance of urban infrastructures, this Companion combines illustrative cases with conceptual approaches to offer an innovative perspective on the governance of large urban infrastructure systems. Chapters examine the challenges facing urban infrastructure systems, including financial, economic, technological, social, ecological, jurisdictional and demand.

Finck examines the emergence of blockchains (and other forms of distributed ledger technologies) and the implications for regulation and governance.

The aim of this edited volume is to bring together the views of expert academics and practitioners on the latest regulatory developments in sustainable finance in Europe. The volume includes a wide range of cutting-edge issues, which relate to three main themes along which the volume is structured: (1) corporate governance; (2) financial stability; and (3) financial markets. With individual contributions deploying different methods of analysis, including theoretical contributions on the status quo of macro-financial research as well as law and economics approaches, the collection encourages interdisciplinary readership and will appeal to those researching capital markets law, European financial law, and sustainable finance, as well as practitioners within the finance industry.

This timely book presents an in-depth investigation of who benefits from European financial market regulatory measures and how decision-makers and stakeholders are held politically and administratively accountable. The extensive study illustrates the full range of the actors involved in key regulatory processes such as the regulation of high-frequency trading and the activities of central-clearing counterparties.

Handbook of Blockchain, Digital Finance, and Inclusion, Volume 1: Cryptocurrency, FinTech, InsurTech, and Regulation explores recent advances in digital banking and cryptocurrency, emphasizing mobile technology and evolving uses of cryptocurrencies as financial assets. Contributors go beyond summaries of standard models to describe new banking business models that will be sustainable and will likely dictate the future of finance. The volume not only emphasizes the financial opportunities made possible by digital banking, such as financial inclusion and impact investing, but it also looks at engineering theories and developments that encourage innovation. Its ability to illuminate present potential and future possibilities make it a unique contribution to the literature. Explores recent advances in digital banking and cryptocurrency, emphasizing mobile technology and evolving uses of cryptocurrencies as financial assets Explains the practical consequences of both technologies and economics to readers who want to learn about subjects related to their specialties Encompasses alternative finance, financial inclusion, impact investing, decentralized consensus ledger and applied cryptography Provides the only advanced methodical summary of these subjects available today