Fintech
François Hollande: Fintech investments are essential
Former French President, François Hollande, held a keynote session at Money 20/20 talking about the current state of French tech investment and how he has transformed France into a Fintech hub.
Interviewing Hollande, Money 20/20’s Scarlett Sieber presented the former president’s many fintech successes. During his presidency from 2012 to 2017, Hollande consolidated France’s status as a European fintech leader, introducing a welcoming regulatory environment, including new rules allowing direct lending by non-banks and simplifying the process for obtaining a fintech license .
Faced with the economic crisis, Hollande says one of his first priorities was to use technology as an answer to the problem the country – and the European region in general – was facing. “The whole point was to convince people that we have a future, and that starts by creating jobs. My policy was to demonstrate our desire to create a technological ecosystem. And that’s why, in 2013, we launched the French Tech ticket with tax incentives and the creation of the public bank to support technologies and entrepreneurs. It was the first step to give a better chance to fight the crisis.”
The creation of French Tech was just one aspect of Hollande’s push to promote the French tech sector. Other initiatives included tax breaks for early-stage investments in R&D funding for emerging technologies, targeted visa programs for tech entrepreneurs and support for the unification of EU fintech regulation across the Eurozone.
However, although it has supported unified EU regulation from the beginning, this remains a challenge today. Speaking about the limitations present on the continent, Hollande comments: “The problem in Europe is the fragmentation of the market. We don’t have a global market for technology, and that’s the big challenge. If Europe does not put all its forces together, powerful countries like the United States or China will win the competition.”
Fragmentation is a challenge, but education and investment in the next generation is another key driver in the nation’s fintech market. Much of success depends on a person’s network, so providing these opportunities is critical. France is home to the world’s largest startup incubator, Station F, as well as School 42, France’s first nursery for IT talent, both supported by Hollande. When asked how the country can ensure it keeps these talents in France instead of losing them to other fintech hubs, Hollande stresses that going abroad is not the crux of the matter.
“It’s not a problem to have talent abroad. The problem is: how does France ensure the return of this talent? It’s a good thing when young people go to study in Europe, the United States or elsewhere, or gain work experience in another country. The question is: how do we ensure they return? We need to incentivize them to attract talent back. Not simply because they are French, but because they can be successful there.”
Finally, when asked what accomplishment he is most proud of, Holland cites the creation of the state investment bank. “I created an emerging public bank to support technology and entrepreneurs. And now this bank, ten years later, is one of the most important investors in the technology sector. And it doesn’t do it alone, but with other banks. At the beginning it was about creating an actor that could convince other partners to invest, and now this bank could disappear, but the movement would still remain.”