Sandboxes and Consumer Protection: The European Perspective

The paper explores the consumers’ perspective on regulatory sandboxes and their increasing deployment by authorities in Europe to regulate financial innovation (‘FinTech’) ex ante. In particular, this article will shed a light on the conditions for regulatory sandboxes to be considered consumer-friendly environments. To this end, the paper briefly introduces the concept of the regulatory sandbox and discusses it within the framework of consumer law. Specifically, this study outlines risks and benefits that a regulatory sandbox poses to consumers. Furthermore, the authors provide an analysis of the current European framework and the role that consumers have taken within the various regulatory sandboxes that have been recently established. Therefore, the article intends to contribute to the academic debate on the interplay between technological innovation, new markets and consumer law.