Peru's Central Bank Reserve Bank (BCR) announced that it had drafted regulations which would make the Stock Exchange Superintendency responsible for supervision of financial technology firms (fintechs) and subject them to minimum capital requirements, Moody's Investors Service has noted.
"This will most immediately affect crowdfunding fintechs, restricting their operations and setting a maximum maturity for project financing," it expressed.
In particular, certain proposed rules —such as the capital requirements— will increase
fintechs' operational costs and likely force them to raise prices for their financial products, reducing the competitive threat they pose to
traditional banks.
The proposed bill also calls for regulation of
fintechs to prevent financial fraud, money laundering,
terrorism financing, and ensure that users' information —as well as transactions— will be protected in
digital platforms.
"Complying with these regulations will entail further increases in operating costs for fintechs subject to the regulation," Moody's noted.
Likewise, the BCR said other types —in addition to crowdfunding fintechs— can expect rules and supervision to keep pace with their
growth rates.
Although fintechs accounted for just 1% of Peru's financial market in 2018, they have grown exponentially in recent years, as of 2018.
Last year, approximately 500,000 loan applications were registered online, far higher than the 143,000 requests recorded in 2017. Andy —one of the largest e-lenders in Peru— expects online loan requests in 2019 to double from 2018.
(END) NDP/DTK/MVB