The world of banking, financial and payment services has recently undergone some important changes as a result of technological innovations and legal developments, in particular by the introduction of the PSD2 (Directive (EU) 2015/2366, transposed into Italian law by Legislative Decree 218/2017) and Regulation (EU) 2015/751. These measures extend the PSD's scope of application through scenarios that involve new entities ('Third Party Providers').
At the same time, technological innovation has introduced the blockchain. On the one hand, this has led to the spread of virtual currencies throughout the world: they can be exchanged by users on a 'peer to peer' basis thanks to the use of digital ledgers. On the other hand, the traditional centralized registers used by the competent authorities may now no longer be required. Moreover, technological innovation has also led to the introduction of IT platforms capable of acquiring and processing big data, allowing parties with excess liquidity and parties in search of financing to have access to each other.
The new context foreshadows a process of disintermediation of the supervised entities, and the emergence of situations (at a global level and therefore difficult to manage in a harmonized way), the security of which depends on the technological features used, which can never be protected enough. If, on the one hand, we have seen an increase in the number of controls exercised over the authorized entities, on the other there has been an increase in the number of intermediaries working with no controls at all. Clearly, effective supervision of these new entities and their activities will need to be profoundly different from the traditional system, requiring a change in the tools and types of interventions carried out.
This paper attempts primarily to circumscribe such issues, delimiting the research's boundaries in the most inclusive way. It begins with an analysis of the novelties introduced by the PSD2 in order to assess their subjective and objective implications on the payment system. It then widens the field to the include the changes that the market has undergone as a result of such novelties, as well as looking at the phenomenon of big data. We then focus on the implications of the technological revolution, addressing the role, the functioning and the future prospects of the blockchain, a multi-purpose instrument that can be used in many banking and financial services, often distorting their connotations.
From this perspective, the paper examines cryptocurrencies (both in general, starting from their nature, and with specific analysis of the tax and anti-money laundering aspects, on the attitude of policymakers and on supervisory models) and the effects of the use of technologically sophisticated tools (platforms, computer networks, etc.) on traditional banking and financial services. Finally, we identify the new and different risks arising from the new banking, financial and payment services arrangements, and propose updated methods of evaluation and containment.
