innovation hub – FinTech and Blockchain Law Watch

ASIC provides update on the Innovation Hub

Dec 16 2016

In a recent speech, Australian Securities and Investments Commission Chairman Greg Medcraft released information on FinTech businesses which have taken advantage of the Innovation Hub established by ASIC in April earlier this year. Robo-advisers and marketplace lenders were the most prevalent types of businesses to approach the Innovation Hub. The 109 different businesses that the Innovation Hub engaged with this year included:

25 robo-advisers
22 marketplace lenders
17 payments businesses
11 credit providers
9 crowdsourced equity providers

ASIC has also noted that those who received assistance from the Innovation Hub before applying for an Australian financial services licence were approved on average 95 days or 45% faster than those who hadn’t.

Regulators in Australia and Ontario sign co-operation agreement

Nov 07 2016

By Jim Bulling and Michelle Chasser

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) have signed a co-operation agreement to promote FinTech innovation. The agreement will make expansion into the Australian and Ontarian markets easier for growing FinTech businesses.

A referral mechanism has been created under the new agreement which allows ASIC to refer Australian FinTech businesses wanting to enter the Ontarian market to OSC and vice versa. Referred businesses will receive support to understand the market’s regulatory framework and how it applies to them from dedicated staff at the relevant regulator. To qualify for support FinTech businesses will need to meet the eligibility criteria of their home regulator including being a new or early stage FinTech business which has an innovation or product which will likely provide benefits to investors and consumers.

Both ASIC and OSC have established internal teams to assist FinTech businesses with their regulatory obligations and encourage development of the FinTech industry. ASIC’s Innovation Hub was established in April 2015 and OSC recently established LaunchPad in October 2016.

ASIC and OCS have also committed to share information about emerging market trends and potential impacts on regulation.

ASIC has entered into similar co-operation agreements with the UK Financial Conduct Authority and the Monetary Authority of Singapore amongst others this year.

HKMA’s support to fintech development in Hong Kong

Sep 09 2016

By Michael P. W. Wong

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), announced on 6 September 2016, the launch of Fintech Innovation Hub (FIH) and the Fintech Supervisory Sandbox (FSS).

The FIH will be jointly established by the HKMA and the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute for the purposes of supporting and promoting the research and development of fintech by the local financial services industry. The FIH will be equipped with all the requisite IT systems and supported by technical teams, enabling industry players to pioneer or build upon new fintech solutions, such as enhanced biometric authentication and integrated mobile payment services. In addition, operation of the FIH is expected to facilitate dialogue between the HKMA and the relevant industry players on emerging technologies by serving as a common training venue. For instance, the HKMA may wish to explore “regtech” solutions to improve its regulatory efficiency in the FIH.

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