A neoliberal agenda: decentralized financial innovation to enhance sustainable finance

Abstract

Over the last decade, digitalisation and the emergence of FinTechs promoted a disruptive shift in financial systems towards disintermediation. Platform based financial instruments were soon bundled by FinTechs, creating a new system of decentral platform based financial systems, which led to the erosion of national institutional settings. This market driven neoliberal agenda gained momentum particularly after the financial crisis of 2007-2009 when public regulatory forces aimed at reducing instability arising from global financialisation processes. However, the opposite was promoted, as FinTechs led not only to financialisation via platform financial structures, but also additional financialisation processes resulted from the implementation of decentral modes of personal finance e.g. robo-advisors. Elements of Green Finance are incorporated into these decentralized forms of finance. Analysing these developments, this paper critically investigates the structure and impact of decentralized financial systems to promote sustainable development.