Interest shown

THE response to the Regulatory Sandbox set up by the Central Bank of Barbados and the Financial Services Commission, through which entities in the financial technology (FinTech) sector can perform live testing of their products and services, has been going relatively well.

That’s the word from Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), Kester Guy. He told media personnel yesterday morning that since the launch, several entities have expressed interest of various types. He made the point while revealing that they are currently in the process of reviewing an application, but Guy remained mum on the details.

“Because we are in the initial stages of assessing the application, I would not go further to explain who it is and what type of business it is. But certainly, once the committee meets and makes a determination, as is customary, we will provide all of that information both on our website and on the Central Bank’s website. Because as you may recall, the Regulatory Sandbox is a joint initiative with the Central Bank and the FSC,” he said.

Guy, speaking to the establishment of the sandbox, explained that it is for FinTech companies that are developing new products, or utilising new technologies to provide various technology-based financial services. He explained that through the sandbox, as regulators, they can look at the product or service and determine if they are consistent with the financial activity that is being done.

“We generally are technology neutral; technology is just a means to an end to deliver a particular product. So we peered through the technology to try to understand what is the product or the service being offered – if it is of a financial nature, is it a payment system, is it an insurance product, is it a banking product. Once we identify specifically what type of activity that is being provided through the technological platform, then we would know what is the right regulatory toolkit to apply to that,” he said.

The CEO of the FSC made the point while indicating that going forward, the government entity is looking forward to even more interest in and activity taking place through the Regulatory Sandbox. (JRT)