Legal regulation of robo-advisors in the Russian Federation

Abstract

The development of the digital economy entails the emergence or transformation of already existing social relations that develop between investors and professional participants in the securities market in the financial market. Professional participants in the securities market began to provide their services to investors not only personally, but also with the help of artificial intelligence technologies. Such technologies include the use of computer programs — “robo-advisers” to provide investment recommendations. The introduction of such innovations in the financial market has inexorably raised the question of introducing legal regulation of public relations that develop when professional participants in the securities market — investment advisers with the help of “robo-advisers” provide consulting services to their clients. The author stated that the relatively recent emergence of public relations in the field of roboadvising causes difficulties in the conceptual apparatus not only in Russian science, but also in foreign. The article proposed the concept of a robot advisor (roboadviser) and roboadvising in both the theoretical and legal sense. The approaches of the states to the establishment of legal regulation in the national legislation of the provision of investment recommendations by “robo-advisers” were analyzed. The author identifies two approaches of states to the establishment of legal regulation: through acts of a recommendatory nature and through the adoption of special normative legal acts. It is concluded that the Russian Federation belongs to the category of states where the legal regulation of the provision of investment recommendations by “robo-advisers” is carried out on the basis of special regulatory legal acts. In the article, the author expressed the point of view, according to which the consolidation of the legal definition of a “robo-adviser” in Russian legislation seems impractical, due to the fact that it already has a mechanism for legal regulation of the provision of investment recommendations using computer programs (which involve the use of an auto-consulting algorithm), based on which a definition can be derived the term “robo-advisor”. Special attention was paid to the distinctive features of the Russian legal regulation of this area, including on the basis of an analysis of subordinate regulations issued by the Bank of Russia.