ESAs recommend steps to enhance the monitoring of BigTechs’ financial services activities

In 2023 the ESAs, via the European Forum for Innovation Facilitators (EFIF), conducted a cross-sectoral stocktake of BigTech subsidiaries providing financial services in the European Union (EU) as a follow-up to the ESAs’ 2022 response to the European Commission’s Call for Advice on Digital Finance.

The stocktake showed that BigTech subsidiary companies currently licenced to provide financial services pursuant to EU law mainly provide services in the payments, e-money and insurance sectors and, in limited cases, the banking sector. However, the ESAs have yet to observe their presence in the market for securities services. 

To further strengthen the cross-sectoral mapping of BigTechs’ presence and relevance to the EU’s financial sector, the ESAs propose to set-up a data mapping tool within the EFIF. This tool is intended to provide a framework that supervisors from the National Competent Authorities would be able to use to monitor on an ongoing and dynamic basis the BigTech companies’ direct and indirect relevance to the EU financial sector.

The ESA will also continue the cross-disciplinary exchanges in the setting of the EFIF to further foster the exchange of information between EFIF members and other relevant financial and non-financial sector authorities involved in the monitoring of BigTechs’ activities (e.g., data protection and consumer protection authorities).

Background

More information about the EFIF can be found here. 

For the purpose of this report, BigTechs are large technology companies with extensive customer networks, which include firms with core businesses in social media, internet search, software, online retail and telecoms.

Further information:

Cristina Bonillo

Senior Communications Officer
@ press@esma.europa.eu