T he article considers the opportunities, risks, and challenges associated with the development of digital financial technologies. To identify them, we used the scenario approach. We determined three main development scenarios for the market of innovative financial technologies-"domination of traditional financial companies", "segmentation of market of new financial technologies' , and "domination of digital financial companies" in terms of their probability and possible consequences for the global financial markets. The results of analysis allowed us to suggest that among main scenarios of fintech development the most probable is the splitting of existing market, which in the future can turn into a market of digital transnational financial corporations, which will squeeze out both small companies and traditional financial giants. However, although the scenario of capturing the financial market by large players is currently unlikely, it is certainly more important in terms of the consequences for global markets. The main prerequisite for the latter scenario is the promotion of international cooperation in the regulation of digital financial companies. Such a condition requires new models of country-level interaction in the regulation of innovative financial companies in order to address the risks and challenges of different scenarios of fintech development on global financial markets. This article includes a comparative analysis of digital development in Russia and the Republic of Korea, which is one of the key players on the Asian fintech market, as a possible benchmark that can be used to shape the policies of intergovernmental cooperation on global financial markets. These policies include 1) regulatory cooperation that reduces risks due to growing experience in the regulation of innovative financial companies; 2)cooperation in investments that allow one to acquire additional experience in regulatory practices and to develop infrastructure, which meets the new requirements of digital finance; and 3) cooperation in the taxation of fintech companies that reduces cross-border regulatory arbitrage.

The presence of different risk factors in international trade gives evidence of the necessity of support in gaps that may affect exporters' activity. To maximize the trade volumes and in the same time to minimize the exporters' risks the stakeholders use trade credit insurance. The paper provides analysis of conceptual background of the trade credit insurance in the world. We analyzed briefly the problems, arising in insurance markets due to asymmetric information, such as adverse selection and moral hazard. Also we discuss the main stages of development of trade credit insurance in countries worldwide. Using comparative and graphical analysis we provide a brief evaluation of the dynamics of claims and recoveries for different forms of trade credit insurance. We found that the claims related to the commercial risk for medium and long trade credits in recent years exceed the recoveries, while with the political risk the reverse trend holds. And we originally consider these findings in terms of information asymmetry in the trade credit insurance differentiated by type of risk.

The main purpose of the study is to identify and analyze the main threats to the system of sustainable development and planning of the region in terms of ensuring the economic security of the state. To do this, we applied a methodology that allows us to establish the dependence and connection between threats and to determine the level structure of measures to counter the negative impact of these threats on a particular region. The relevance of the study is given by the fact that the regions of Europe today are also suffering from military actions on the territory of Ukraine. As a result of the study, a multi-level matrix of the hierarchy of the negative impact of threats on the system of sustainable development and planning of the region was formed in the context of ensuring the economic security of the state. The use of this matrix is a relatively new and more effective way to determine the measure of the impact of certain phenomena. The study has limitations and they concern the selection of only one region therefore further research needs to expand and apply our matrix to more regions.

In 2014, the United States, the European Union (EU) countries and some other states have imposed economic sanctions against Russia. The overcoming of sanctions requires an understanding of their effectiveness. Thus, we aimed to identify factors of the effectiveness of economic sanctions by reviewing the literature that considers sanctions as a tool for transforming the current national policies. The applied methodology of the systematic literature review (SLR) includes the following stages: 1) determining a basic sample of publications based on a keyword search in Web of Science, Scopus, Russian Science Citation Index, SSRN, EBSCO, Ideas/RePec, Google Scholar, Cambridge University Press, Routledge, De Gruyter JSTOR, Springer, Taylor & Francis; 2) identifying a representative sample based on the authors’ criteria (type of publication, language, character, content and context); 3) synthesising the representative sample; 4) reporting the research results. A method of comparative and graphical analysis was used to present the findings. The analysis of relevant literature allowed us to conclude that economic sanctions are more effective if 1) sanction costs for a target country are higher than for a sender, including those occurring as a result of regional inequality; 2) sanctions are designed as a short-term measure; 3) sanctions are multilateral and imposed by international institutes, including through regional trade agreements; 4) sanctions are targeted at democratic regimes. Moreover, the most preferred type of sanction — targeted (smart) sanctions — are less effective in achieving their goals than traditional comprehensive ones. Further review studies may focus on targeted economic sanctions (first and foremost in Russia) and include publications, analysing case studies of individual countries and industries.

The purpose of the article is to provide analysis of conceptual background of the international tax competition, and its negative externality-the race to the bottom situation. We distinguished the three types of tax competition models, notably, traditional, asymmetric and Leviathan models. Also we analyzed briefly the main benefits and disadvantages of international tax competition in the modern world. Using both comparative and graphical analysis we provide a brief evaluation of the dynamics of statutory corporate income tax rates in countries worldwide. For the purpose of such analysis we distinguished the four regions: Europe, Latin America, Africa and countries of the former USSR. We used panel data on statutory corporate income tax rates for 70 countries for the period of 2006-2015. We found that in the three regions, notably Europe, Latin America and countries of the former USSR there were no significant changes in statutory corporate income tax rates while in African countries they have changed substantially. This can be explained by the weakness of these tax systems, i.e. the countries compete with each other, primarily by reducing statutory tax rates. But in order to make some conclusions both about taxation of corporate income and possibility of the race-to-bottom situation occurrence in neighboring countries, the real tax rates, taking into account the tax incentives and eliminations should be considered in future research. The obtained results could be useful for the elaboration of guidelines in order to create an attractive investment climate both for domestic and non-resident investors. KEYWORDS. International taxation; tax competition; investment; corporate income tax; race to the bottom; crosscountry analysis. Е. В. Соколовская НИИ фискальной политики Государственной налоговой службы Украины, г. Киев, Украина «ГОНКА УСТУПОК» В МЕЖДУНАРОДНОЙ НАЛОГОВОЙ КОНКУРЕНЦИИ АННОТАЦИЯ. Цель статьи заключается в рассмотрении концептуальных положений международной налоговой конкуренции и негативной экстерналии этого явления-«гонки уступок». Определено три типа моделей налоговой конкуренции, в частности, традиционные, ассиметричные и модели Левиафана. Также представлен краткий анализ основных преимуществ и недостатков международной налоговой конкуренции в современных условиях. Используя методы сравнительного и графического анализа, представлена краткая оценка динамики номинальных ставок налога на доход корпораций в странах мира. Для целей анализа было выделено четыре региона: Европа, Латинская Америка, Африка и страны бывшего СССР и использованы данные по 70 странам мира за период 2006-2015 гг. Анализ показал, что в трех регионах мира (Европа, Латинская Америка и страны бывшего СССР) значительных изменений номинальных ставок налога на доход корпораций не происходило, тогда как в стра-Административно-управленческие проблемы налоговых реформ Administrative and managerial issues of tax reforms