One of the better online courses I've taken. As a lawyer with little prior exposure to the technical side of Financial technologies/systems, I appreciated Professor Reiner's condensed introduction to the mechanics underlying the financial/tech systems & networks prior to investigating the applicable regulatory frameworks. I appreciated that the point of exposing us to the technical side of some topics, although challenging, was a an effective way to show us that these very challenges (i.e., fragmentation, bank-based models) situate the goals of FinTech, the hurdles innovators and regulators face, and the value successful innovation stands to create. In this regard, I appreciated the balanced discussion of FinTech's potential: to profit-oriented companies, to convenience-oriented consumers, and to a broader public interested in regulatory frameworks that steer FinTech developments towards accessible, fair, and useful outcomes.
This course also highlighted several legal and regulatory "gray areas," ripe for examining more deeply on my time (possibly without the need for continued structure in a course). I enjoyed the combination of lectures with periodic quizzes which tested applications of concepts in hypotheticals. Great for comprehension, in my opinion. And now, I have a concise, targeted outline of topics for reference in job-searching, interviews, and crafting pieces of writing that rely on FinTech concepts.
I especially appreciated that the final exam did not reuse questions from prior quizzes and did not only emphasize rote memorization of new terminology or facts/trends! Instead, Professor Reiners offered unseen fact patterns and called on us to apply multiple concepts at a time to work through the questions posed. These raised even further questions for me, particularly regarding the classification of different aspects of ICO's/ cryptocurrency exchange setups as securities (subject to SEC regulations), as derivatives subject to CFTC oversight, and corresponding impacts on taxation, entity structures, and market trends.
Although this course was posted 4 years ago, the questions posed and issues highlighted are certainly still relevant and worth working through. There are sections which I found hard to focus on and absorb -- i.e., mechanics of payment systems, types of charters -- but as I returned to review for the final exam, I found that those concepts allowed new connections to emerge and enrich my view of the FinTech regulatory framework. The course is short enough that I was able to maintain steam, but challenging enough that I found myself electing to rewatch videos, review quizzes, and consolidate my personal notes (rather than speeding through the whole course in a few concentrated sittings). Not a bad return on 30 minutes a day for a few weeks!