Follow us on
Difitek
  • News
  • What We Offer
  • Contact Us
  • Visit our Site

Hong Kong Creates a Fintech Sandbox for Banks

9/13/2016

 
Hong Kong Skyline
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) last week announced the launch of a financial technology sandbox, to allow banks to test new innovative products that do not yet meet compliance standards. The new regime is valid as of September 6.
​
The announcement comes a few months following similar action by various governments around the world, including the UK, Singapore, Australia and France, but more recently also in other countries in the area, including Malaysia, Thailand and last but not least Japan. The main difference here is that the the regulatory sandbox would be not applicable to standalone fintech firms, but it’s only applied to banks. We believe this is a fundamental benefit, given the disruptive innovation being leveraged around the world in innovative banking institutions.

This initiative is the third one in less than a year announced by Hong Kong. At the start of the year they established a fintech steering committee, before that the financial regulator announced, just two months later, an office to promote fintech through the organization of industry events. 

The good news of “Fintech Supervisory Sandbox” was brought by Norman Chan, Chief Executive of HKMA, in a keynote speech at Treasury Markets Summit 2016. Talking about the situation of banking and fintech in Hong Kong he said that “in the past few months, banks and stored value facility operators have already launched new payment facilities built on smart-phones and Near Field Communication technology.  These facilities have the potential of altering fundamentally the way consumers make payments.  Many banks have also reported to the HKMA their intention to roll out very soon new technology with a view to providing more secure and efficient services to customers.  I mentioned earlier biometrics authentication technology involving voiceprints and fingerprints.  This is indeed something that many banks are planning to roll out.  Additionally, blockchain, robotics and augmented reality are also being explored by banks to improve their services or streamline their operations.”

Going further talking about the regulatory framework sandbox he says that it “allows banks to conduct testing and trial of newly developed technologies and applications on a pilot basis.  Within the Sandbox, banks can try out their new Fintech products without the need to achieve full compliance with the HKMA’s usual supervisory requirements.  This will enable banks to gather real-life data and user feedback on their Fintech products or services more easily and in a controlled environment, so that they can make suitable refinements to their products before the full launch.” Adding also that banks intentioned to access this fintech sandbox should get in touch with the monetary authority early on. 

The full speech of Norman Chan is available on the HKMA website:
​http://www.hkma.gov.hk/eng/key-information/speech-speakers/ntlchan/20160906-1.shtml
​

Alessandro Ravanetti picture
About the author - Alessandro Ravanetti

Alessandro is Co-founder & CMO of Crowd Valley. He has worked in the fintech industry, with marketplace investing and lending, since 2011. Has built and managed digital companies with distributed teams and international partners, and gained experience with both startups and large corporations, having worked with British Telecom, Bloomberg and the Grow VC Group.  
Alessandro grew up in Italy, where he graduated with a B.A. in Economics at University of Parma, before to obtain a M.S. in Finance at Regent’s University London. He studied and worked in many different cities, including Munich, Geneva, London, Barcelona and Valencia. Genuinely passionate about financial technology and innovation, he loves to spend his spare time traveling and discovering new cultures.  You can find him on Twitter at @aleravanetti. ​





Comments are closed.

    RSS Feed

       

    Categories

    All
    All Sectors
    Americas
    API
    Asia
    Australasia
    Clean Energy
    Crowd Valley
    CTO Blog
    Difitek
    Equity Investment
    Europe
    Events
    Expert Analysis
    Fintech
    Global
    Interview
    Lending
    Local Funding Network
    Marketing
    Market Watch
    Oceania
    Platform Updates
    Presentations
    Press Release
    Real Estate
    Regulations
    Russia
    Social Capital
    Webinar

Back to Difitek website


Copyright 2018 Crowd Valley Inc. 
All Rights Reserved.

Crowd Valley does not engage in the offer, sale or transfer of securities and securities may not be offered, sold or transferred via this website. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent (i) registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act) or (ii) an available exemption from registration under the Securities Act. Please consult legal counsel in the appropriate jurisdiction before offering, selling or buying securities as registration under the Securities Act or similar state legislation may be required.

Please note that the provision of the information on this website does not create and is not intended to create a relationship between Crowd Valley Inc. and any other person. You are not and should not regard yourself as being a client or customer of Crowd Valley Inc. and must not expect Crowd Valley Inc. to have any duties or responsibilities to you, act for you or your clients, or be responsible for providing protections afforded to customers or yourselves or be responsible for advising you in any respect.