Alessandra Perrazzelli: Technology and regulation - bridging the gap in the collective interest

Keynote speech by Ms Alessandra Perrazzelli, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Italy, at the Milan Fintech Summit, Milan, 8 October 2024.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

Ladies and Gentlemen, good morning.

I am delighted to be here today at the Milan Fintech Summit. Since its first edition – four years ago – this summit has provided a valuable opportunity to strengthen the dialogue among stakeholders and market participants, bringing together financial institutions, fintech companies, academics, and experts with different backgrounds.

Innovative technology affects the entire financial system, globally and domestically [Slide 1]. Fintech reshapes traditional business models, opening the door to newcomers, developing new services, and restructuring value chains. The impressive, fast, and interrelated changes push policy makers and supervisors to run in-depth analyses to update the regulatory landscape and the supervisory toolbox.

Global fintech investments increased significantly from 2010 to 2019, peaking at around 217 billion U.S. dollars [Slide 2]. In 2020 – in the midst of the pandemic – investments fell by more than 40 per cent to 124 billion U.S. dollars, eventually rebounding to over 229 billion U.S. dollars in 2021. In the last two years, however, global fintech investments have entered a downward trend, owing to the uncertain macroeconomic situation and to the heightened geopolitical risks that, unfortunately, we are living through.

Fintech applications are widely implemented in the financial sector, especially in the payments field. The digital evolution has led to lower research costs, more efficient services, higher security levels, and the use of large amounts of data to analyse customer behaviour and to customize the products and services being offered.