IMF Staff Country Reports

This paper presents a technical note on fintech developments and oversight as part of Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) in Spain. The scope of this assessment covered fintech developments in Spain, including digitalization of the banking sector, and the supervisory oversight of fintech activity. This technical note covers the impact of fintech on regulated firms, mainly banks; the interaction between new market entrants and existing firms; the approach toward industry monitoring; and the institutional arrangements for regulation and supervision of fintech, including overall supervisory cooperation. Banks play a dominant role in Spain’s fintech landscape. A better balance between the benefits of the sandbox and its significant supervisory costs could be achieved by considering some targeted changes to its operational arrangements. The FSAP recommends granting full autonomy to the Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV), which it currently lacks, over its recruitment process and ensuring alignment of resources at the Banco de España and CNMV to current and expected workloads.