Fintech sandbox to be reviewed in a year
It will be another 12 months before the corporate regulator reviews its regulatory sandbox framework that allows fintech businesses to test certain services for up to a year without an Australian financial services or credit licence.
Speaking at the British Australian Fintech Forum in London on Thursday, Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) chair, Greg Medcraft, said the regulator would seek feedback form industry and other stakeholders as part of the review process.
The sandbox was launched in December 2016 and Medcraft said it would improve the opportunity for Australian fintechs in three key areas:
- Speed to market – by providing an environment for testing without a licence;
- Organisation competency – by bridging knowledge gaps with more examples and also greater flexibility; and
- Access to capital would be addressed to reduce testing costs.
“Ultimately, entities using the sandbox exemption will have the opportunity to prove a business model and investigate what strategy will best work for their business,” he said.
Recommended for you
As the first quarter of 2024 comes to a close, Money Management looks back on the corporate regulator’s bans and AFSL cancellations in the financial advice sector.
Insignia Financial is holding ‘relatively steady’ onto its rank as Australia’s second-largest financial advice licensee after the Godfrey Pembroke exit but Count is hot on its heels.
Liberal senator Slade Brockman has said the government needs to have a “cold hard look” at the level of regulation in the financial advice space and the costs of running a business.
FAAA chief executive, Sarah Abood, has warned changes in the first tranche of the QAR legislation around advice fees documentation could create more work for advisers rather than less.