海外之声｜英国金融科技产业支持政策及其影响（中英双语）

观点速递

本文作者是韩国对外经济政策研究院高级研究员杨孝恩，本文原文选自KIEP World Economy Brief。

作者提出，英国已成为全球领先的金融科技中心，尽管由于脱欧的决定，英国金融市场的未来仍不明朗，但直到目前为止，还未见到脱欧对于金融科技业有消极影响。一方面，英国金融科技产业的迅速发展同高质量的金融科技生态圈是密不可分的。另一方面，政府进行了有效的监管改革，积极促进公私合作，成功推动金融科技产业成为英国经济增长新引擎。金融行为监管局建立了一个叫做“创新中心”的新项目，致力于为创新企业提供支持。

中文译文如下：

英国金融科技产业支持政策及其影响

   杨孝恩

翻译：梅亚男

审校：肖柏高

1.   英国金融科技产业

过去4到5年时间里，英国已成为全球领先的金融科技中心。英国金融科技行业的显著增长归功于它与全球金融市场的紧密联系，也要感谢政府为创造利于企业发展的监管环境而提供的政策支持，同时也因为英国与其他金融科技中心有着便捷的联系。基于英国金融市场在过去几百年的积淀，英国的金融服务业的竞争力和全球领先地位是毋庸置疑的，但是金融科技行业作为典型的新兴行业，需要最具创新性的理念和最新的信息技术，能在英国取得这样巨大的增长，着实很有意思，值得好好研究。

英国的金融科技行业自2008年全球金融危机后迅速发展。2015年英国金融科技产业的规模为66亿英镑，从业人员人数达到61000。从规模上看仅次于美国。美国纽约和加利福尼亚州各有一个全球金融科技中心，各有其特点。

2008年全球金融危机后，客户对传统银行的信任度急剧下降，对于传统金融服务的需求也减少了，而对全球的金融服务部门进行结构性改革的必要性增加了。金融服务业一直是英国经济的支柱性产业之一，改革的要求非常强烈。在此背景下，英国政府在制定新的经济政策时非常强调创新这个概念，以创新作为走出金融下行低谷，发掘经济新增长点的手段，呼吁为客户利益着想，提高金融服务市场竞争力。响应政府的呼吁，英国的金融科技业利用现有的极具竞争力的金融基础设施，以创新的方式提供金融服务，由此获得了长足的发展。

2008年至2013年，涉及到金融科技行业的交易规模每年增加74％，投资金额增长了8倍。虽然脱欧的决定让英国经济的不确定性显著增加，但很有趣的一点是，2016年金融时报仍将伦敦评为顶级国际金融中心。尽管由于脱欧的决定，英国金融市场的未来仍不明朗，但直到目前为止，还未见到脱欧对于金融科技业有消极影响。脱欧公投后，对英国主要的金融科技公司1200名首席执行官和高级管理人员做的一项调查显示，鉴于现在英国的数字化经济发展非常迅猛，而且欧洲市值10亿美元或以上的初创金融科技公司，40%以上都在英国，所以脱欧对金融科技产业的负面影响不会很大。这种信心表明，英国金融科技产业的增长不是基于短期外国投资或某些特定的金融科技公司或产品。事实上，是政府创新的商业友好型监管政策促成了金融科技产业的良好发展。

2.  英国的金融科技生态圈

英国金融科技产业的迅速发展同高质量的金融科技生态圈是密不可分的。全球咨询机构安永基于以下4要素分析金融科技生态圈的质量：人才、资金、政策、需求（安永2016）。根据这一标准，在全球各金融科技中心中，伦敦拥有最好的生态圈。然而硅谷有充裕的风险资本市场，因此在资金方面，加州排名第一，而英国排名第三，但在政府政策质量（包括监管制度、政府计划和税收政策等）上，伦敦的条件远超其他金融科技中心。

3.  创新的监管环境

在过去，英国僵化死板的监管制度被指责阻碍了英国金融科技产业的发展。但近几年，政府进行了有效的监管改革，积极促进公私合作，成功推动金融科技产业成为英国经济增长新引擎。最重要的举措是，2013年4月英国政府将金融监管体系一分为二：监督金融系统重要机构的英国审慎监管局，和监管其他金融机构行为的英国金融行为监管局。

金融行为监管局的核心任务包括为消费者提供更多保护，增加对金融体系的审慎监管以及增强金融服务的竞争力。全球金融危机后，在重建全球金融市场的过程中，金融行为监管局重点发掘革新的金融科技产业的潜力，作为改善金融市场消费者利益的一个主要手段；积极支持金融科技业的初创公司；针对有创意的新产品，引入新的监管方式。虽然传统上金融监管机构的作用仅限于监督企业，防止非法行为发生，但金融行为监管局这种交互式监管为拥有创意点子和创新服务的金融科技业的迅速发展提供了最好的土壤。金融行为监管局的“项目创新倡议”被认为是支持金融科技产业发展最成功的政策之一。为了给创意产业提供直接的支持，优化相关行政程序，这项倡议改变了金融监管机构扮演的角色，从僵化死板的监管者变成创意产业的支持者。该倡议引入了创新中心，作为专项小组，致力于为新老金融科技公司申请授权提供服务。在确保金融市场稳定的情况下，减少监管风险，这种情况下，那些初创或者已经比较成熟完备的公司一旦有了新奇的点子，就可以更加便捷地进入市场，将想法投入运行。

4.   创新中心

2014年10月，金融行为监管局建立了一个叫做“创新中心”的新项目，致力于为创新企业提供支持。得益于此，这些企业在向市场推广创新金融产品和服务时，监管方面的花费更少，负担更轻。

企业要想获得创新中心的支持，必须证明包含了创新要素的特定金融产品或服务和现有产品或服务是有显著区别的，并且这项创新能给消费者带来可观的好处。（请看表2）

创新中心提供的支持分为以下三个阶段：预授权、授权中、授权后。在预授权阶段，监管机构帮助金融科技企业了解获取授权的风险和成本。由于监管机构提供了获取授权的要求的准确信息，并协助企业为此作准备，显著降低了该过程中的监管风险和成本。很多情况下，金融科技类初创公司很难理解复杂的金融监管体系，也很难承受高昂的建立合规系统费用，因此，监管机构直接提供的咨询和帮助对于这些初创公司来说，能够大大帮助他们降低监管风险。一旦企业提交授权申请，该申请将通过专门的授权流程审批。只有那些参与创新计划的企业才可以享受这项服务。授权结束后，监管机构还提供长达一年的监督和支持。

不仅仅是金融科技类初创公司能够从这些项目中受益，对于监管机构本身也是大有裨益的。他们可以直接从参与的企业那里得到反馈，了解监管体系的有效性。整体而言，在引入和运营创新产品和服务的过程中，不同参与方彼此互动交流，可以确保金融科技生态圈的有效运行。

5.   反思监管目标

英国政府的金融科技产业支持政策最有趣的特点是：监管金融市场的监管机构为受其监管的企业提供直接的、定制化的支持，使这些企业能够更好地了解及服从监管体系，减少时间和成本。总体而言，监管者这种支持的态度，政府、公司、投资者和开发者之间意见和信息的互动交流，都为在英国建立强大有效的金融科技生态圈提供了良好基础。

金融监管的核心目标应包括：稳定金融市场，通过促进市场创新和竞争，为消费者带来更多利益。从这一点看，英国政府的金融科技产业支持政策为各国金融监管机构提供了一个很好的范例。经济持续衰退，迫切需要市场创新。

英文原文如下：

The UK’s Fintech Industry Support

Policies and its Implications

By YANG Hyoeun

   2017.2.17

The UK Fintech Industry

During the past 4 to 5 years,  the UK has emerged as a leading global fintech hub. The outstanding growth of the UK fintech industry can be attributed to its connectivity to global financial markets, government policy on building a business-friendly regulatory environment, and easy networking with other fintech hubs, among other factors. While there is no doubt about the competitiveness and global leading status of the UK’s financial services industry, based on the London finan- cial market over the past hundreds of years, it is interesting that the fintech industry, which is an icon of new industry and necessarily re-quires some of the most innovative ideas and the newest information technology, has seen immense growth in the UK.

The fintech industry in the UK has seen rapid growth since the global financial crisis in 2008. In 2015, the size of the UK fintech industry was 6.6 billion pounds and around 61,000 persons were employed in this sector.1 In terms of size, this i 40 33550 40 13563 0 0 7999 0 0:00:04 0:00:01 0:00:03 7997s only second to the US fintech industry, which has two global fintech hubs in New York and California, each with different characteristics.

Since the global financial crisis in 2008, the level of customers’ trust in traditional banks has sharply declined and the demand for conventional financial services has also decreased while the need for structural reform in the financial services sector has increased globally.This request for reform was very strong in the UK as the financial services industry has been one of the most important industries for the British economy. In this context, the UK government has emphasized the concept of innovation in its new economic policies as a means of recovering from the financial downturn and discovering new sources of growth. Following the call for improving customers’ benefits and competitiveness of the financial services mar- ket, the UK fintech industry has rapidly evolved by utilizing a competitive financial infrastructure and providing innovative ways of providing financial services.

From 2008 to 2013 the size of transactions related to the fintech industry has increased 74% each year and the amount of investment has increased by eight-fold.3   While the Brexit decision has significantly increased the level of uncertainty in the UK economy, it is interesting to note that London ranked as the top international financial center (IFC) in 2016 according to the Financial Times.4 While the future of financial markets in the UK is still uncertain due to the Brexit decision, its nega- tive impact on the fintech industry has  not been visible so far. According to a survey of 1,200 CEOs and executive officers in major UK fintech companies following the Brexit referendum, most of the respondents expected that the negative impact of Brexit on the fintech industry would not be serious, when considering the rapid growth of the UK digital economy and that more than 40% of new fintech companies in Europe valued at a billion dollars or more are located in the UK.

The confidence indicates that the growth of the UK fintech industry is not based on short- term foreign investments or certain fintech companies or products. Instead, the innovative and business-friendly regulatory policy of the government has led the UK fintech ecosystem.

UK’s Fintech Ecosystem   

The rapid growth of the UK fintech industry is closely linked to the high quality of its fintech ecosystem. The global consulting agency Ernst & Young analyzed the quality of fintech ecosystems based on four categories: talent, capital, policy, and demand (Ernst & Young 2016). According to this analysis of the quality of fintech ecosystems, the UK has the best ecosystem among global fintech hubs. While California is ranked at the top in the level of capital due to the abundant venture.

Capital markets located in Silicon Valley and the UK was ranked as third, the UK greatly outweighed other fintech hubs in terms of its quality of government policy, including regulatory regimes, government programs, and taxation policy.

Innovative Regulatory Environment

While in the past the rigid regulatory system of the UK had been blamed for disrupting the development of the UK fintech industry, the effective regulatory reform and facilitation of public-private partnership driven by the government in recent years have succeeded in promoting the fintech industry as a new engine for growth in the UK. Most of all, in April 2013 the UK government divided the financial regulatory system into two parts: the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) for the purpose of supervising systemically important financial institutions, and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for supervising the conduct of other financial institutions.

The core objectives of the FCA included improving consumer protection, the prudentiality of the financial system, and the competitiveness of financial services. During the process of restructuring the global financial markets after the global financial crisis, the FCA focused on the potential of the innovative fintech industry as a remarkable way of improving the benefits of consumers in the financial market and has actively supported fintech startups and introduced  creative ways of regulating new and innovative products.While the traditional role of financial supervisory institutions hadbeen limited to overseeing any illegal conduct by businesses in the market, the interactive approach of the FCA to regulation has provided the best soil for the remarkable growth of the fintech industry with innovative ideas and services. The Project Innovate Initiative of the FCA has been considered one of the most successful policies in support of innovative fintech businesses. With the purpose of providing direct support to innovative businesses and improving related administrative procedures, the Initiative has changed the role of financial supervisory institutions from rigid supervisors to creative supporters of innovative businesses. Under the initiative, the Innovation Hub was introduced as a team dedicated to supporting new and established fintech businesses for authorization so that innovative fintech startups or existing busi- nesses with innovative ideas could have easier access to the market by mitigating regulatory risks while maintaining the adequate level of stability in the financial market.

Innovation Hub

In October 2014, the FCA launched a new program called    Innovation Hub which provides dedicated support for innovator businesses to be able to introduce innovative financial products and services with less regula- tory costs and burden.

In order for a business to be eligible for the support of this innovation hub, it must prove that the specific product or service includes innovative factors significantly different from existing ones and that the innovation offers considerable benefit to consumers (see Table 2).

The support provided by Innovation Hub con- sists of three stages: pre-authorization, authorization, and after authorization. At the stage of pre-authorization, regulators help fintech busi- nesses understand the risk and cost of acquir- ing authorization. Since the regulator provides accurate information on the requirements for acquiring authorization and assists businesses to prepare for this, the process significantly reduces regulatory risk and cost. In many cases, fintech startups struggle with understanding complex financial regulatory systems and cannot easily afford an expensive compliance system. Hence the consulting and assistance provided directly by the regulator is more than beneficial for fintech startups in reducing regulatory risk. Once a business submits an application for authorization, the application goes through a special authorization process available only to those participating in the innovation hub program. After authorization, the regulator provides additional supervision and support up to a year.

While new fintech businesses benefit from these programs, it is also very helpful for the regulator since they can receive direct feedback on the effectiveness of the regulatory system from participating businesses. Overall the interactive communication throughout the entire process of introducing and operating innovative products and services among diverse actors in the market enables effective operation of the fintech ecosystem.

Rethinking the Aim of Regulation

The most interesting feature of the UK government’s fintech support policy is that the regulator who supervises the financial market provides direct and customized support to businesses which are under its supervision so that those businesses can easily understand the regulatory system and comply with less time and cost. Overall, based on this supportive attitude of the regulator, the interactive exchange of opinion and information among the government, companies, investors, and developers provided a good soil for establishing a strong and effective fintech ecosystem in the UK.

Considering that the core purpose of financial regulation should include stabilizing the financial market and also increasing the benefit to consumers by promoting innovation and competition in the market, the fintech support policy of the UK government provides a fine example for financial regulators as the continuing economic downturn is causing a desperate need for innovation in the market.

YANG Hyoeun： Senior Researcher, Europe Team, Department of Europe, Americas and Eurasia ([e-mail])

观点整理  张晨希

图文编辑  张晨希

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