EU Open Finance Plans

The German Banking Industry Committee (GBIC) calls for a comprehensive and careful review of the European Commission’s proposal for a Regulation on a Framework for Financial Data Access (FiDA). The debate on the European Commission’s new work programme and withdrawal of its FiDA proposal highlights the urgent need for clarification on key issues. FiDA must not weaken the competitiveness of the European financial sector through excessive bureaucracy.

The introduction of FiDA is a considerable burden for the financial sector. The German Banking Industry Committee therefore sees a need for urgent action to make the planned regulation more targeted and to implement the necessary amendments. This will simplify the European legal framework and strengthen the competitiveness of the European financial industry in the global context.

The competitiveness of the entire European financial sector is crucial but this current version of FiDA merely serves to weaken it. The German Banking Industry Committee warns against hastily trying to push through the proposal solely based on political will. Taking this approach would undermine European innovativeness and competitiveness. At the same time, market-based schemes such as giroAPI show the financial industry’s willingness to open itself up – in the spirit of open finance.

Kolja Gabriel, member of the Executive Board of the Association of German Banks, which is this year coordinating the activities of the German Banking Industry Committee, pointed out that, “For FiDA to become a success we need to look at it again and thoroughly scrutinise its overall scope and strategic approach.”

This is the only way to ensure the new regulation makes a positive contribution to the financial and data economies. The German Banking Industry Committee will continue to play a constructive role in the political discourse.