Normative Conflict of Lex Specialis in Competition Law within the Financial Technology Services Industry
Keywords:
normative conflict, lex specialis, competition law, financial technology, sectoral regulationAbstract
The digital transformation of the financial services industry has brought sectoral regulation and competition law into contact over identical objects of economic conduct, generating normative conflicts and overlapping institutional authority. This study aimed to analyze the construction of lex specialis conflicts, identify the relationship between sectoral supervision and competition enforcement, and formulate a normative harmonization model for the financial technology industry. The study employed a qualitative library research design using meta-synthesis of sixty conceptually rich qualitative articles published between 2018 and 2025. The literature was systematically selected and analyzed through content and thematic analysis. The findings showed that normative conflicts emerged from regulatory fragmentation, data-driven market power, overlapping authority, and tensions between prudential and competitive objectives. Sectoral regulation did not automatically preclude competition scrutiny of conduct producing anticompetitive effects. The study developed the Functional Lex Specialis Harmonization model, integrating regulatory objectives, types of risk, objects of conduct, legal bases of authority, and competitive effects. This model contributed theoretically to conflict-of-norms scholarship and provided a practical framework for coordinating financial supervision and competition enforcement across evolving digital financial ecosystems more effectively.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Abdurrohman Abdurrohman , Inang Fitnasari (Author)
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