The EU Commission (DG Fisma) tasked our team to deepen the understanding of the structures and activities of "Mixed Activity Groups" (MAGs), defined as groups engaging in various sectors beyond finance, extending to the provision of financial services. The foundation for this study was established by the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) in the 'Report on 2023 stocktaking of BigTech direct financial services provision in the EU',1 which conducted a stocktaking of the provision of financial services by BigTechs in the EU through a survey addressed to the National Competent Authorities (NCAs). The report identified the financial services provided by BigTechs in the EU and concluded that the provision of financial services by BigTechs - although increasing - is still at a low base and mainly provided through subsidiaries rather than by direct provision. However, the report did not cover corporate structure, governance issues such as ownership structures, and quantitative elements regarding the size of the financial services provided by BigTechs, such as the number and value of payments and transactions, the value of risk covered by insurance contracts concluded, and the number of customers. The ESAs also recognised that NCAs may lack visibility in the financial services provided because of deficiencies in notification practices. This study is intended to complement, deepen and address some of the gaps in the ESAs Report. To achieve this, the scope is extended from 'BigTechs', ie. large, worldwide companies carrying out digital-related services (such as cloud computing services, software, AI, advertising, gaming, social media, e-commerce platforms, food delivery, ride-hailing etc.) to "Mixed-Activity Groups". This permits a more extensive analysis of the potential growth in the provision of financial services over several business sectors. In this regard, the study follows the ESAs' definition of a MAG as "a group of undertakings (a parent undertaking and its subsidiary undertakings) conducting both financial and non-financial services, for instance a group active in vertical markets such as cloud, advertising, business software, gaming, food delivery, ride-hailing and streaming, combining them with insurance, payments, banking and other financial services". Beyond widening the scope of its study, the European Commission has also requested that the team provide a more granular analysis of MAGs' activities, structures, as well as the risks they may pose in providing financial services.
