francois villeroy de galhau : bank of france - how the commitment to fintechs is being implemented speech by mr francois villeroy de galhau, governor of the bank of france and chairman of the autorite de controle prudentiel et de resolution ( acpr ), at the acpr - amf forum fintech, paris, 11 october 2021. * * * dear minister, ladies and gentlemen, i am very pleased to welcome you to the banque de france this morning for this annual acpramf fintech forum – and i would also like to welcome robert ophele, chairman of the amf. mr. minister, dear cedric, you have once again given us the pleasure of being present for this second forum. the strong attendance of public officials testifies to our collective commitment to fintechs, which i am convinced are indispensable to the financial sector, as a driver of creativity, vitality and efficiency. previously a garden in the making, the fintech ecosystem is now growing in leaps and bounds. this is especially the case since these start - ups have benefited from the acceleration of digitisation in finance resulting from the health crisis. moreover, 2021 was a record year for fundraising in the sector : eur 1. 7 billion had been raised by the end of august 2021, which is already twice as much as for the whole of last year, and this year also saw the birth of the first french fintech “ unicorns ". this morning, i would like to illustrate to you how our commitments to fintechs are being implemented in practice : ( i ) firstly by enhancing dialogue, ( ii ) secondly by facilitating their integration into the regulatory framework, ( iii ) and lastly by conducting experiments with them. i. enhancing the dialogue with fintechs we communicate with fintechs primarily through the specific correspondents of the banque de france and the acpr. at the banque de france, thestart - up correspondents, also french tech correspondents, assist start - ups at all stages of their project ( financing, ratings, etc. ). at the acpr, the fintech innovation unit is a dedicated gateway for fintechs. each year, about 250 discussions are conducted in this context, half of which being initial contacts with innovative project leaders. with the development of the fintech ecosystem, it became necessary to broaden dialogue to all stakeholders, which is what our acpr - amf

fintech forumembodies today. in addition to the productive working groups it initiated – i will come back to this later – this annual forum day was introduced last year. this year, it is also part of the “ french fintech week ” in association with france fintech ( the sector ’ s professional association ) and swave ( the first french start - up accelerator dedicated to financial services ). as a sign of our commitment, the banque de france and the acpr will attend several key events during the week and dominique laboureix, secretary general of the acpr, will conclude the week in lyon. ii. facilitating the integration of fintechs into the regulatory framework as regards the fostering of innovation, i would first like to recall a founding principle. as supervisors, we need to promote a regulatory framework that is innovation - friendly, but technology - neutral, in order to encourage the appropriate and uniform treatment of risks : the same activity, same risk, same rule principle. last year, i drew a parallel with the invention of the railway, which was a major innovation in the 19th century but not devoid of risks. our role is to prevent the train from going off the tracks and to ensure that passengers are happy to get on board without being afraid. in other words, we need to promote innovation but also confidence in 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches innovation. at the european level, the balance between innovation and security is embodied in the first draft texts of the digital finance package, presented by the european commission in september 2020. the draft markets in crypto - assets regulation ( mica ) constitutes a first step forward. i would like to stress two key points : it must be adopted quickly, and it must be consolidated. indeed, technology is advancing rapidly, and decentralised finance, which is an even more crucial area than in september 2020, must be taken into account to avoid leaving any blind spots or allowing alternative circuits to develop without regulation. the draft dora act focuses on the key issue of operational resilience, which is vital, notably to address cyber risk. within the acpr - amf fintech forum, we seek to “ make life easier ” for fintechs by facilitating their access to regulation, ensuring “ proportionate ” enforcement and identifying irritants. we have contributed to three initiatives : ( i ) with the collaboration of the french national cybersecurity agency ( anssi ), we have helped to streamline the non -