The Financial Stability Board is taking a greater interest in the fintech sector, with a focus on new and emerging risks flowing from financial innovation.In a speech earlier this month, the FSB secretary general Svein Andresen called on financial regulators to be "vigilant" and actively monitor the effects that fintech innovations were having on products and services. "Authorities should also consider how their ability to supervise and regulate the system is affected," Andresen said.The FSB has a number of projects underway. It is working with the Bank for International Settlements on a study of the financial stability implications of peer-to-peer lending.It has considered the financial stability implications of distributed ledger technology and it continues to work in this area to identify key issues that market participants and policymakers need to address.And it is doing a stocktake of the work done by FSB and BIS members at a national level on fintech issues.Andresen said: "Financial innovation enabled by the use of new technology is already a driver of change in the financial system and its importance will inevitably increase."Understanding these innovations, therefore, is important for a full understanding of the structure and functioning of the financial system. Our work is focused on new and emerging risks."Much hype surrounds the development of fintech and for regulators it is essential to understand what developments are going to change the way financial markets operate that those that won't."We have been explicit in our desire to look at both financial stability benefits and risks, so as not to bias our work against fintech."Regulators are acutely aware of the need to balance these issues and of the need to be proportionate. We need to monitor and act on risks as they emerge but we need to balance this against the need to allow the development of technologies that can provide real benefits for society."