Contributing Editors Angus Mclean and Penny Miller Simmons & Simmons
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GETTING THROUGH THE DEAL Fintech Fintech Contributing editors Angus McLean and Penny Miller 2018 Law Business Research 2018 © Law Business Research 2017 Fintech 2018 Contributing editors Angus McLean and Penny Miller Simmons & Simmons Publisher Law The information provided in this publication is Gideon Roberton general and may not apply in a specific situation. [email protected] Business Legal advice should always be sought before taking Research any legal action based on the information provided. Subscriptions This information is not intended to create, nor does Sophie Pallier Published by receipt of it constitute, a lawyer–client relationship. [email protected] Law Business Research Ltd The publishers and authors accept no responsibility 87 Lancaster Road for any acts or omissions contained herein. The Senior business development managers London, W11 1QQ, UK information provided was verified between July and Alan Lee Tel: +44 20 3708 4199 August 2017. 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Printed and distributed by First published 2016 Encompass Print Solutions Dan White Second edition Tel: 0844 2480 112 [email protected] ISSN 2398-5852 © Law Business Research 2017 CONTENTS Introduction 5 Netherlands 86 Angus McLean and Penny Miller Jeroen Bos, Joyce Kerkvliet, Sophie Demper, Mattie de Koning, Simmons & Simmons Machteld Hiemstra, Geneviève Borremans, Steven den Boer, David Schreuders and Maarten ’t Sas Simmons & Simmons Australia 6 Peter Reeves Gilbert + Tobin Norway 92 Espen Tøndel, Morten Wilhelm Winther, Sunniva Kinsella, Marianne Arvei Moen and Marit Stubø Belgium 14 Advokatfirmaet Simonsen Vogt Wiig AS Muriel Baudoncq and Jérémie Doornaert Simmons & Simmons LLP Russia 98 Anastasia Didenko, Anton Didenko, Valeria Ivasikh and China 21 Svetlana London Jingyuan Shi CIS London & Partners LLP Simmons & Simmons Singapore 105 Czech Republic 27 Damian Adams, Jason Valoti, Gurjoth Kaur, Shaun Lee, Loebl Zbyněk, Ditrych Jan, Kalíšek Jindřich and Zixiang Sun and Benedict Tan Linhartová Klára Simmons & Simmons JWS Pte Ltd PRK Partners s.r.o., Attorneys at Law Spain 112 Germany 32 Alfredo de Lorenzo, Ignacio González, Thomas Adam, Felix Biedermann, Carolin Glänzel, Carlos Jiménez de Laiglesia, Álvaro Muñoz, Juan Sosa Martin Gramsch, Sascha Kuhn, Norman Mayr, and María Tomillo Khanh Dang Ngo and Elmar Weinand Simmons & Simmons Simmons & Simmons LLP Sweden 118 Hong Kong 39 Emma Stuart-Beck, Caroline Krassén, Louise Nordkvist, Ian Wood Henrik Schön, Nicklas Thorgerzon and Maria Schultzberg Simmons & Simmons Advokatfirman Vinge India 45 Switzerland 123 Stephen Mathias and Anuj Kaila Michael Isler and Thomas Müller Kochhar & Co Walder Wyss Ltd Indonesia 52 Taiwan 130 Abadi Abi Tisnadisastra, Yosef Broztito and Abe T S Sung and Eddie Hsiung Raja S G D Notonegoro Lee and Li, Attorneys-at-Law AKSET Law United Arab Emirates 136 Ireland 58 Raza Rizvi, Muneer Khan, Neil Westwood, Samir Safar-Aly Anne-Marie Bohan and Joe Beashel and Ines Al-Tamimi Matheson Simmons & Simmons Japan 65 United Kingdom 144 Ryuichi Nozaki, Yuri Suzuki, Hiroyuki Sanbe, Ryosuke Oue Angus McLean, Penny Miller, Sophie Lessar, George Morris, and Takafumi Ochiai Darren Oswick, Kate Cofman-Nicoresti and Peter Broadhurst Atsumi & Sakai Simmons & Simmons Korea 72 United States 154 Jung Min Lee, Sophie Jihye Lee and Kwang Sun Ko Judith E Rinearson, Robert P Zinn, Anthony R G Nolan, Kim & Chang C Todd Gibson and Andrew L Reibman K&L Gates LLP Malta 78 Ruth Galea and Olga Finkel WH Partners 2 Getting the Deal Through – Fintech 2018 © Law Business Research 2017 PREFACE Preface Fintech 2018 Second edition Getting the Deal Through is delighted to publish the second edition of Fintech, which is available in print, as an e-book and online at www.gettingthedealthrough.com. Getting the Deal Through provides international expert analysis in key areas of law, practice and regulation for corporate counsel, cross- border legal practitioners, and company directors and officers. Throughout this edition, and following the unique Getting the Deal Through format, the same key questions are answered by leading practitioners in each of the jurisdictions featured. Our coverage this year includes new chapters on Belgium, the Czech Republic, Indonesia, Korea, the Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates. Getting the Deal Through titles are published annually in print. Please ensure you are referring to the latest edition or to the online version at www.gettingthedealthrough.com. Every effort has been made to cover all matters of concern to readers. However, specific legal advice should always be sought from experienced local advisers. Getting the Deal Through gratefully acknowledges the efforts of all the contributors to this volume, who were chosen for their recognised expertise. We also extend special thanks to the contributing editors, Angus McLean and Penny Miller of Simmons & Simmons, for their continued assistance with this volume. London August 2017 www.gettingthedealthrough.com 3 © Law Business Research 2017 Simmons & Simmons INTRODUCTION Introduction Angus McLean and Penny Miller Simmons & Simmons Since its emergence into the mainstream over the last few years, the informal feedback to innovative fintech businesses on the regulatory financial technology (fintech) sector has captured the interest and implications of their business models. Still more regulators have estab- imagination of entrepreneurs, investors, governments and regulators, lished ‘fintech bridges’ with regulators in other jurisdictions, although not to mention incumbent financial services institutions. While those the nature and benefit of these arrangements is not always clear. The incumbent businesses have been working hard to evaluate the risks extent and patchwork nature of these regulatory initiatives is now such (and the potential benefits) created by the fintech revolution, lawyers that they are difficult to keep on top of. With this in mind, we have and regulators around the globe have increasingly been grappling with included a new question 16 in this edition of the guide (in addition to the legal and regulatory issues thrown up by these new disruptive tech- the previous question 15) to provide a snapshot of the current landscape nologies and business models. of regulatory initiatives in this area. However, readers should be aware that the frequency with which regulators are launching new fintech ini- What is fintech? tiatives means that the answers to these questions may well need to be The term ‘fintech’ is now used to describe a very broad range of business checked because in certain jurisdictions they will inevitably become types. Peer-to-peer (or marketplace) lending, equity crowdfunding, out of date relatively quickly. remittance, payments, digital currency, personal finance and wealth management (including ‘robo-advice’) businesses are all commonly Regulatory change driving new fintech business models captured under the banner. However, the term is also used to refer to In addition to helping new fintech businesses navigate their regulatory start-up and digital-only banks and software businesses that provide regimes, many regulators are themselves providing the catalyst for technology solutions to the financial services industry. This includes a new fintech business models to emerge through the new regulations growing number of ‘regtech’ businesses, which offer software to assist they are promulgating. In Europe there is a host of businesses emerg- financial services businesses in complying with their growing regula- ing to take advantage of opportunities created by new regulations that tory obligations, and ‘insurtech’ businesses, which provide insurance will come into force over the next 12 months. This includes a range of products and technology solutions. The term is also increasingly syn- fintech businesses that are seeking to leverage the enhanced access to onymous with the plethora of businesses and consortia that are inves- payment systems and customer financial data that will be enabled by tigating ways in which distributed ledger (or ‘blockchain’) technology the second Payment Services Directive (PSD2), coming into full force (the software system that underpins digital currencies like bitcoin) can in January 2018. Other businesses are taking advantage of other regula- be applied to other aspects of the financial services industry. tions, such as the second Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), by Regulatory impact developing technology solutions that help institutions comply with ele- Each of these ‘verticals’ has its own unique set of legal issues, but there ments of those new regulations. are important commonalities too; in particular, the impact of financial services regulation on the fintech industry. Despite many adopting Pivots the stereotypical trappings of Silicon Valley ‘tech’ start-ups (eg, jeans, Lawyers advising (and investors investing in) early-stage fintech busi- trainers and the odd ping-pong table), fintech businesses are complex nesses should also keep in mind that those businesses often change and very often operate in (or very close to) regulated areas. The bur- direction and business models (referred to in tech parlance as a ‘pivot’) den of regulatory