ASTANA – Astana Financial Services Authority along with a newly-formed alliance of 28 financial regulators and organisations, including Financial Conduct Authority (from the U.K.), International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group established Jan. 31 the Global Financial Innovation Network (GFIN).
Photo credit: AIFC.
“We are pleased to be part of this initiative. The GFIN will facilitate greater regulatory cooperation between the like-minded authorities to foster a sustainable global financial ecosystem. This network is an extension of Astana International Financial Centre’s (AIFC) commitment to further facilitate cross-border financial activities in a fair, transparent and efficient manner,” AFSA Chief FinTech Officer Assylbek Davletov said Feb. 1, according to the press service of the AFSA.
The network will help the organisations to collaborate and exchange knowledge on innovations and lessons learned in Regulatory Technology (RegTech) related matters as well as provide companies with an environment to test cross-border solutions.
The GFIN initiative on cross-border testing would allow companies to simultaneously test innovative products, services or business models in multiple jurisdictions, including Kazakhstan, the U.K., Singapore and other jurisdictions.
Companies which want to take part in the testing must meet the application requirements of all the jurisdictions in which they would like to test. For example, a company wishing to test in Kazakhstan, Australia and Hong Kong must independently meet the eligibility criteria, and/or other relevant standards of the regulators of those jurisdictions.
Companies interested in applying to take part in the pilot cross-border tests should review the list of participating regulators and submit an application before Feb. 28.
The network has also published the Terms of Reference for the group and is encouraging other regulators and international organisations to join.
The GFIN seeks to provide a more efficient way for innovative companies to interact with regulators and navigate between countries as they look to scale new ideas.
The network was proposed in a consultation paper in August. The GFIN received 99 responses from 26 jurisdictions. The response from industry and other international regulators was overwhelmingly positive in favour of establishing the network to facilitate a new practical method of regulatory collaboration on innovation and creating an environment for cross-border testing.
