What could Belgium learn from the FinTech ecosystems of the United Kingdom and Singapore? A cross-country comparison of national FinTech infrastructures and regulatory frameworks

Details

Supervisors

Candelon, Bertrand

Faculty

Louvain School of Management

Degree label

Master [120] en ingénieur de gestion

Abstract

This thesis consists of two main parts. Part I gathers both primary and secondary information. After being introduced to FinTech through an analysis of several definitions suggested by the literature, the reader will find a FinTech topology, followed by an overview of the major current trends of this emerging industry. Thereafter follow explanations on financial innovation opportunities and risks, highlighting the reasons for framing the development of FinTech, followed by an overview of the FinTech regulatory framework, studied here within three components: the financial institutions organizational structure and functioning, the initiatives they put in place alongside their governments to develop financial innovation, and the FinTech regulation approaches and rules. The three components are presented and explained in detail, and then viewed on a case-by-case basis for the three countries studied: Belgium, the United Kingdom and Singapore. Part II then provides an analysis of the information provided in Part I. It first includes a cross-country comparison, highlighting the similarities and differences between the three jurisdictions, before listing concrete applications that could be introduced in Belgium, on the basis of the situations prevailing in the two other countries, through three scenarios that depend on Belgian authorities’ level of future ambition for their FinTech ecosystem: high, average or low. A quantitative analysis of several databases on financial development is then proposed, in order to highlight some factors explaining the differences in levels between the countries studied.