This book addresses the questions of discrimination, vulnerable consumers, and financial inclusion in the light of the emerging legal, socioeconomic, and technological challenges. New technologies – such as artificial intelligence-driven consumer credit risk assessment and Fintech platforms, the changing nature of vulnerability due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the sophistication of digital technologies, which help circumvent legal barriers and protections – necessitate the continuous study of the existing legal frameworks and measures that are capable of tackling these challenges. Organized in two major parts, the first addresses, from multiple national angles, the idea of a human rights approach to consumer law, in order to replace the mantra of economic efficiency that characterizes financial services with those of human dignity and freedom from discrimination and from debt-induced servitude. The second tackles the challenges posed by increased usage of technology in connection with financial services, which tends to solve, but also creates, additional issues for consumers in general, and for vulnerable groups in particular.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are goals set by the United Nations to address the global challenges and foster sustainable development and harmony. To effectively achieve these goals, leveraging advanced technologies and engineering techniques is paramount. This edited volume explores the pivotal role of technology and engineering in advancing the SDGs across various sectors such as green energy, water management, healthcare, agriculture, and smart manufacturing. From innovative solutions in clean energy production to precision agriculture and smart cities, technological advancements offer scalable and efficient approaches to tackle complex sustainability issues.

With contributions from an international range of active researchers, this Research Agenda provides a timely literature review on core topics related to consumer financial behavior. Chapters cover financial management behavior, desirable financial behavior and any financial behavior that helps improve financial wellbeing.

This timely Companion provides a comprehensive overview of the relationship between applied ethics and the development and use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Adopting a holistic approach, an array of global experts identify the norms at stake, map the legal landscape, and contextualize normative expectations in relevant use cases of AI.

This book brings together experts from different fields and with different jurisdictional focuses to provide fresh ideas and deep insights into crypto regulation. Cryptoassets engage many different areas of law, with their own specific terminologies, uncertainties, and regulatory fragmentation. Unsurprisingly, then, crypto has faced calls for new laws, for reform of existing laws, and in some instances outright banning. Against this backdrop, this collection explores different aspects of crypto regulation, with reference to current developments, such as the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, and technological innovations, including central bank digital currencies, smart contracts, and non-fungible tokens. Market, user and law-/policy-maker perspectives are examined to explore not only innovation and opportunities, but also regulatory and policy challenges. This volume will be a key resource for scholars and practitioners of law, finance, public policy, criminology and economics. It was originally published as a special issue of Law and Financial Markets Review.

The European Sovereign Debt Crisis: Breaking the Vicious Circle between Sovereigns and Banks explains why the euro area’s progress towards reining in the risks arising from the well-documented bi-directional financial contagion transmission mechanism that links sovereigns to commercial banks has been more prominent compared to the channel of contagion moving from banks to sovereigns. Providing an analysis of the legal and regulatory measures that Europe and the euro area have taken to mitigate the exposure of sovereigns to financial crises generated by commercial banks, this book draws attention to areas where improvements to the arsenal of tools hitherto introduced are either desirable or necessary. Chapters further explain – with recourse to economic and legal arguments – why the channel of contagion moving from sovereigns to commercial banks has proven harder to close, and explores ways in which progress could be made in the direction of closing it so as to avert the risk of future banking sector crises. This work provides essential reading for students, researchers and practitioners with an interest in sovereign debt crises and the euro-area banking system.

Despite some improvement since 2011, Latin America and the Caribbean continue to lag behind other regions in terms of financial inclusion. There is no clear evidence that fintech developments have supported greater financial inclusion in LAC, contrary to what has been observed elsewhere in the world. Case studies by national policy experts suggest that barriers to entry in the financial sector, along with a constraining regulatory environment, may have hindered a faster adoption of fintech. However, fintech development seems to have accelerated in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and with the support of recent policy initiatives.