Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Financial services industry is known to be highly regulated, and increasingly technological innovation is changing the entire financial services landscape. Expectedly, technological innovation is preceding regulatory understanding. This has spawn Financial Technology (FinTech) entrepreneurs who take a permission-less approach in venture creation, market entry and business operation. It not uncommon for FinTech to take advantage of grey areas or break the laws and settle for the opt to pay fines as a cost of business. Deliberately from the start of their venture, more FinTech founders and their firms are getting a seat in policymaking process. According to Pollman and Barry, this strategic approach is called regulatory entrepreneurship, and closely relates to Kingdon’s policy entrepreneur. Using a case study approach, this paper considers a FinTech entrepreneur and his firm’s activity in Nigeria. I expound his strategies as a regulatory entrepreneur that instigated Central Bank of Nigeria to change a rule. This paper contributes to a growing literature on business involvement in policy making, and how FinTech entrepreneurs use varied tactics and methods to break or change laws to their own advantage.