What is a Fintech Regulatory Sandbox License?

What is a Fintech Regulatory Sandbox License?

Singapore understands the importance of embracing technology and various innovations in the financial sector. That’s why it has put effort into it so that facilitators can have it easy. One such thing is the Fintech Regulatory Sandbox. It supports innovators of financial services and products by offering them a live environment to do necessary experiments. The Money Authority of Singapore allows them to test the products. However, there are restrictions such as the duration and space to work within. The limitations may be in terms of the number of transactions, customers, or time.

Who is eligible for a fintech regulatory sandbox license application?

As long as your firm has a technological innovation regarding new financial products and services, they are open to apply. Nevertheless, the services should be under the regulation of MAS or likely to get it upon completion. You shouldn’t just wake up one day and apply for it, though. On the contrary, you should have tested the service and done the necessary due diligence. However, before the approval, you can only test them in the laboratory.

Besides that, the firms should also be aware of regulations, both regulatory and legal, which may be necessary during the proposed financial product or service deployment. It may be a waste of time to apply before doing all that.

How to apply for a Fintech Regulatory Sandbox License?

First of all, there is no specific duration within which you should apply for this license. That said, once you decide to apply, the process is relatively easy. If MAS already regulates your firm, all that’s necessary is to submit the application to the MAS Review Officer. Use the template available in the guidelines. On the other hand, if it is not MAS regulated, you should apply FinTech_Sandbox@mas.gov.sg. Feel free to use the email also to seek clarification or answers to questions abound regulatory sandbox licenses.

What should the firm do after receiving the license?

The responsibility of the firm continues after acquiring the MAS approval.  You owe your customer several things.

• Make your customers aware that you are operating in the sandbox
• Disclosure of any critical risks involved with the service or product
• Ensure that your customer understands all the risks before buying it

As a customer, if the firm does all that and you buy the product in the end, related dispute resolution may be complicated. After all, you can go to neither the Singapore Deposit Insurance Corporation (SDIC) nor the Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre (FIDReC).

What’s next once the sandbox license expires?

Fintech regulatory sandbox licenses are bound to expire after a stipulated period. When the time lapses, the company has two options. It can choose to graduate to a standard business and apply for the necessary license with MAS. Another option is terminating the provision of the service or product altogether.

Conclusion

A Fintech regulatory sandbox license is something worth appreciating. It supports a bright future driven by technology and innovations. If you want to participate, this article explains how you should go about it. It highlights what to do before, during, and after the application for the license.