Bank of Russia presents regulatory sandbox concept to FTA members

The Bank of Russia and FinTech Association (FTA) members have discussed proposals to create a specialised regulatory platform (sandbox) to test innovative financial technologies and services.

‘The main objective in creating this mechanism is to support the development of innovative financial technologies and services while ensuring the stability of the financial system and protecting consumer rights’, highlighted First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Russia Olga Skorobogatova. ‘The regulatory platform will also help to decrease the time required to implement such technologies, cut costs, expand the services range, and boost their accessibility to consumers’.

The sandbox will allow the innovative technologies and services to be piloted in a test environment either at the Bank of Russia or at the project initiator’s premises, in accordance with criteria established for such a ‘pilot’. The plan is to test innovative technologies and services that would require legal acts to be amended or new regulations to be developed, including in the sphere of consumers’ and investors’ rights protection. Another criterion for selecting projects for the ‘sandbox’ will be the emergence of new risks, as well as creation of new or changing the existing models of threats related to the application of innovative technologies and services.

Market participants approved the Bank of Russia’s proposals and expressed their interest in launching the ‘regulatory sandbox’ as soon as possible.

The proposals will be sent to the Government of the Russian Federation with due regard to market participants’ feedback, and will then be presented to the President of the Russian Federation in accordance with instructions following from the meeting of 10 October 2017 on using digital technologies in the financial sphere.