MNI BRIEF: Big Tech World Financial Stability Threat - Panetta

The entry into the financial services market of firms such as Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple poses fresh cross-border challenges for regulators, ECB Executive Board member Fabio Panetta said in a speech Friday in which he highlighted the risk that underlying risk and vulnerabilities in the global financial system could be amplified if big techs start issuing stablecoins.

Risk-biased technological change, whereby the digitalisation of finance favours business models that are riskier for the global economy," Panetta said. "We should not wait for another crisis to regulate increasingly digitalised finance with new global players. In fact, this regulatory effort must be continuous in order to keep pace with technology. Regulators and supervisors will need to be empowered accordingly."