On 7 August 2018, the UK’s financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), announced that it had entered into a collaboration with eleven financial regulators and related organisations to form a new framework, the Global Financial Innovation Network (GFIN), enacting the FCA’s proposals earlier this year to create a “Global Sandbox”.
The main purposes of GFIN are:
- to facilitate collaboration and knowledge-sharing of innovation in respective markets;
- to provide a forum for joint policy work and discussions; and
- to provide firms with an environment in which to trial cross-border solutions.
Additional framing of GFIN, its role, mission statement and other aspects will be sought through consultation.
The eleven GFIN members are listed here. It is possible that the Network will be overseen by a steering group chaired by one of these members. The full FCA announcement can be found here.
The FCA has previously been proactive in establishing so-called “FinTech Bridges” with, for example, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and Korean Financial Services Commission (FSC). The new global framework is the latest move in this direction, and it is a welcome addition as market regulators and actors globally continue to explore and map the legal, financial and economic opportunities and threats stemming not only from FinTech and RegTech but also the wider impact of technology.
This also aligns with the UK government’s goal of securing the future of UK FinTech in its FinTech Sector Strategy, published March this year, and the broader work undertaken by various UK bodies, including the Law Commission, as we earlier reported.
Increased global collaboration is important because it will help drive further insight into this nascent market. Our FinTech Task Force across our offices monitors the global FinTech and RegTech developments. To better understand how this development may affect your business, please feel free to contact us.
