regulatory sandbox – FinTech and Blockchain Law Watch

Good News for Fintechs: Taiwan Announces Plans to Streamline Payments Regulations

Nov 23 2020

In an effort to promote the use of electronic payments and develop its fintech industries, Taiwan’s financial regulator has moved to combine the existing legal regime governing payment institutions and electronic money by proposing an amendment to the Act Governing Electronic Payment Institutions. The proposed amendment seeks both to cope with the disappearing line between physical cards, electronic stored-value cards and virtual, app-based services, while expanding the businesses that electronic payment institutions can do. Click here for more information.

A Regulatory Sandbox for FinTech Innovation Emerges on the U.S. Playground: What It Means for Money Transmitters

May 11 2018

By Eric A. Love and Judith Rinearson

Many FinTechs have benefited from government-established regulatory sandboxes in diverse jurisdictions such as Australia, the UK and Singapore. However, the U.S. has been noticeably slow to adapt these innovation-friendly programs. That is now changing.

Arizona recently enacted a new law (H.B. 2434) to create a Regulatory Sandbox Program (the “Program”) that will allow FinTech companies to temporarily test innovative financial products and services without being subject to money transmitter and similar licensing requirements in that state. The Program will be administered by the Arizona Attorney General (the “AG”) and is the first of its kind among U.S. states.

Australian Government releases proposal for new and improved sandbox

Nov 01 2017

By Michelle Chasser and Felix Charlesworth

On 24 October 2017, the Federal Government released draft legislation and regulations (Draft Bill) enhancing the existing regulatory sandbox for current and emerging FinTech products and services.

This comes almost one year after the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) established a sandbox which granted particular exemptions to FinTech businesses from obtaining an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) and/ or an Australian Credit Licence (ACL) if certain conditions were met.

As projected in the 2017/2017 Federal Budget, the enhanced sandbox will expand the types of permissible activities and testing timeframe beyond the existing sandbox parameters established by ASIC. The purpose of this enhanced sandbox is to further promote Australia’s FinTech capability by supporting start-ups and innovative businesses to develop, test and launch their financial and credit services.

Next FinTech Steps in Bahrain

Oct 25 2017

By Jonathan Lawrence

The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) has announced the creation of a FinTech Unit. The aim of the Unit is to ensure the services are provided to individual and corporate customers in the FinTech sector. The announcement follows the CBB’s recent initiatives, which include a Regulatory Sandbox (which four companies have entered to date), in addition to the issuance of crowdfunding regulations for both conventional and Sharia compliant services.

The proposed Fintech Unit will be responsible for the approval process to participate in the Regulatory Sandbox, supervision of licensed companies’ activities and operations, including cloud computing, payment and settlement systems, and monitoring technical and regulatory developments in the FinTech field.

Hong Kong launches regulatory sandbox

Oct 11 2017

By Jonathan Lawrence

The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) launched a regulatory sandbox on 29 September. The sandbox provides a confined regulatory environment for qualified firms to operate regulated activities under the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO) before FinTech is used on a fuller scale to the wider public. The SFC emphasises the importance of the integrity of the market and investors’ interests, and says it will not compromise regulatory requirements which are key to investor protection. For example, a qualified firm operating in the sandbox must be fit and proper and must comply with the applicable financial resources requirements.

FinTech in Taiwan: Regulatory Efforts and the Need for Speed

Oct 03 2017

By Joseph P.Y. Tseng

To encourage financial services industry and the related industry to apply innovative technology for enhancing financial accessibility, practicability, and quality, on May 4, 2017, Taiwan’s Executive Yuan proposed the bill called “Financial Technology Innovation Experimentation Act” (the “Bill”) to create its version of “regulatory sandbox.” It would enable experimenting innovative financial technology within a well-defined space and duration under relaxed legal requirements.

To read our full alert, click here.

Bahrain announces first entrants into its FinTech regulatory sandbox

Sep 07 2017

By Jonathan Lawrence

The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) has announced the first two entrants into its FinTech regulatory sandbox: Tramonex, a London-based foreign exchange cash management solution for businesses; and NOW Money, a Dubai-based account and remittance service for low-income workers in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. The CBB launched its Regulatory Sandbox Framework in June and updated the framework rules at the end of August. The sandbox application process is open to both existing CBB licensees (financial institutions with FinTech initiatives) and other companies (local and foreign). The latter may include financial sector companies as well as technology and telecom companies intending to test an innovative product or service, professional service firms which partner with or service financial institutions, or any other type of applicant working within the financial services.

UK regulatory sandbox’s second cohort announced

Jun 29 2017

By Jonathan Lawrence

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has provided an update on its regulatory sandbox and unveiled the list of firms that were successful in their applications to begin testing in the second cohort of the sandbox. The regulatory sandbox allows businesses to test innovative products, services, business models and delivery mechanisms in a live environment. It is part of Project Innovate, an initiative begun in 2014 to coordinate the FCA’s approach to FinTech.

Australia to get a bigger sandbox

May 26 2017

By Michelle Chasser and Daniel Knight

As part of the Federal Budget 2017-18 released on May 9 the Australian Government announced plans to enhance the regulatory sandbox established by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) last year.

The proposal includes expanding the types of products and services that will be eligible to be tested and extending the testing timeframe from 12 months to 24 months.

Currently sandbox participants can provide financial product advice about, and assist clients to trade in, lower risk financial products such as listed Australian securities, simple managed funds and deposit products. Accordingly, participation in the sandbox is typically limited to intermediary type businesses (eg robo-advisers). ASIC specifically excluded issuing financial products and lending from the sandbox to ensure that consumers received all the usual protections from the issuers. However, the Government proposes to expand the types of financial services and products that are allowed to be tested. Under the proposal, businesses will be able to:

provide “holistic” financial product advice (presumably on a wider range of financial products);
lend to consumers; and
issue short term deposit or payments products (it is unclear what is meant by short term deposit products and how this will interact with the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority oversight usually required for some products of this kind).

K&L Gates hosts FinTech event in Perth

May 03 2017

By Adam Levine and Ben Kiernan-Green

On 19 April 2017 the K&L Gates Perth office hosted a Perth FinTech Meetup, chaired by ASIC Commissioner John Price. The event provided clients, lawyers and members of the FinTech and crowd-funding communities an opportunity to hear about ASIC’s involvement and commitment to the development of the ASIC Innovation Hub, ASIC’s regulatory sandbox and RegTech.

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