Dear Colleagues,

In the last few years, financial technology (FinTech) and regulatory technology (RegTech) have become central discussion points in the banking, securities and asset management industries, as well as in academia. At the same time, governments around the world have launched various initiatives in support of green finance and sustainable banking. FinTech and RegTech have the potential not only to transform the financial system, but also to build an equitable and sustainable society by promoting not only green finance, which is driven by increasing investment opportunities and developing infrastructure, such as green bonds, but also encouraging sustainable banking practices. If these technologies are applied in the right way, they could also help governments to overcome the social and economic gaps that exist worldwide.

However, there remain regulatory challenges with respect to greenwashing, reporting and disclosure practices, and climate risk, all of which damage investor confidence and harm the development of a fully functioning green finance movement. Combining both existing and new technologies, RegTech has the potential to play a crucial part in combating the regulatory challenges currently facing green finance and sustainable banking. As regulators continue to take the lead in the development of green finance and encourage market developments through adopting globally unified standards and benchmarks, recent years have seen not only green finance but also sustainable banking become almost operational and regulatory requirements for many firms in the finance industry, where companies that are not disclosing data are beginning to feel public pressure and face competitive disadvantages.

With the increasing demand for green finance and sustainable banking, impactful legal, regulatory and policy-related academic research on the role of FinTech and RegTech can be a catalyst for change. The need in the existing literature for both empirical and theoretical perspectives remains very high. It is against this backdrop that this Special Issue aims to encourage, stimulate, advance and broaden theoretical and empirical research on the role of FinTech and Regtech on green finance and sustainable banking, thereby filling an important gap in the existing literature.

I am looking forward to receiving your contribution to this Special Issue by the deadline below.

Prof. Dr. Mete Feridun
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• RegTech
• FinTech
• green finance
• sustainable banking