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FinTechs belonging to this category offer advisory and broking services for investments usually via an internet platform.
Robo advisory services usually offer an investment proposition following a series of questions concerning the personal financial background and the risk-bearing capacity of the user. Sometimes the respective platform also enables the user to directly execute the proposed investment.
Auto-trading concerns all services which automatically trade on behalf of the customer according to his or her specifications.
Apart from that some FinTechs collect and offer merely or as an ancillary service market information or operate comparison portals to increase the transparency of the capital markets and to help the investor with his decision-making.
There are also FinTech-advertising-services which advertise various financial services or products.
Introduction
Attitude of the country towards modern financial advisory and broking services
Despite the fact that robo-advisory services in Poland are at a very early stage of development, they are beginning to gain attention of supervisory authorities. The Polish Financial Supervision Authority (Komisja Nadzoru Finansowego) issued a statement pointing to a number of risks associated with offering such services.
Also, the market recognizes and distinguishes this area of financial innovation – the investing robot Investo, offered by ING bank, won the ranking "Banking Innovation of the Year 2021" by Forbes magazine.
Legal affairs
Obligations and requirements to provide financial advisory and broking services, or ancillary services described above
In Poland, specific regulations on artificial intelligence have not yet been developed. A source of information on the legal environment of robo-advice and self-advice are recommendations and published positions of the supervisory authority - the Financial Supervision Commission (Komisja Nadzoru Finansowego; “KNF”).
Investment advisory services consisting of preparing recommendations based on the client's needs and situation constitute brokerage activities regulated by the provisions of the Act on Trading in Financial Instruments (Ustawa o obrocie instrumentami finansowymi). However, not every example of using algorithms to generate recommendations will be treated as meeting the requirements of investment advisory services. The key thing in this case is to take into account the individual situation of the client in the recommendation. The provision of adjacent services that are general rather than individual in nature is, in principle, not regulated and does not require authorization.
Brokerage activities may be conducted on the basis of a permit granted by the Financial Supervision Authority. The legal basis for granting authorisations and rules of conducting brokerage activity is the Act on Trading in Financial Instruments. Brokerage activities may be conducted by investments firms, which are for example brokerage houses. The amount of the fee for brokerage activity permits depends on the scope (types) of brokerage activity for which the permit is granted. The maximum amount of fees charged may not exceed EUR 4,500. The initial capital of a brokerage house for conducting brokerage activity is, as a rule, at least EUR 125,000.
Additional comments regarding the legal situation for financial advisory and broking services, or adjacent services or what FinTech’s must be aware of in this business area
National regulations do not distinguish between "traditional" and technology-enabled advisory. These regulations are "technology neutral". The investment firm is responsible to the client for the performance of the service. This means that it cannot exempt itself from