Singapore's central bank mulls "regulatory sandbox" for new fintech products

Regulations will be eased to boost innovation.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore is proposing to relax specific regulatory requirements in order to allow financial institutions (FIs) to experiment with fintech solutions.

The central bank has released a consultation paper on proposed guidelines for a so-called regulatory sandbox, which will enable financial institutions as well as non-financial players to roll out innovations to real customers.

The regulatory sandbox will enable FIs or any interested firms to experiment with innovative FinTech solutions in an environment where actual products or services are provided to the customers but within a well-defined space and duration.

The regulatory sandbox will provide appropriate safeguards to contain the consequences of failure for customers rather than to prevent failure altogether, the MAS noted.

“The sandbox will help reduce regulatory friction and provide a safer environment for FinTech experiments,” said Jacqueline Loh, Deputy Managing Director of MAS