Vying for International Fintech Startups, Lithunia Launches Regulatory Sandbox
by Fintechnews Baltic September 26, 2018Taking advantage of the Brexit fallout, Lithunia has been seen to be aggressive in positioning itself as a fintech friendly destination in Europe.
While it is not the first country that comes to mind as the next-in-line as a fintech hub in Europe, a recent report has shows that there are currently 117 fintech companies operating in the country. Indicating a relative success with its strategy.
Lithunia is also not lacking when it comes to innovative startups, a recent piece done by Fintech News Switzerland highlights 10 interesting startups in Lithunia.
Continuing on its ambitions, the central bank, Bank of Lithunia announced that fintech startups will soon be able to test products within its sandbox. The applications for Lithunia’s fintech regulatory sandbox is scheduled to be open on the 15th October 2018
“Having developed an innovation-friendly space, we seek to pave the way for faster and easier access to new financial solutions. Ideas generated in the sandbox could quickly move beyond its limits and increase competition in the financial market – without a doubt, this would bring identifiable benefits to consumers, such as more
convenient, safer and cheaper financial services,” said Marius Jurgilas, Member of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania.
Much like the other countries, the Lithunia fintech regulatory sandbox participants will also be entitled to certain reliefs pre-agreed with the regulator, including the temporary lifting of some supervisory requirements.
Once testing of financial innovations has proved successful, companies could shift to the usual operating environment. The regulatory sandbox is open to both existing authorised financial institutions and market newcomers. Selection of eligible participants will be based on certain criteria, the innovativeness of products or solutions and their benefits to society being the most important among them.
The Lithunia fintech regulatory sandbox would be especially useful in cases when regulation of innovations is insufficient or unclear. Strong cooperation between innovators and the regulator could help understand the impact of financial innovation on consumers, identify emerging risks, determine potential regulatory shortcomings and eliminate or reduce any possible negative effects.
Development of a FinTech-conducive regulatory and supervisory ecosystem as well as fostering innovation in the financial sector is one of the Bank of Lithuania’s strategic directions for 2017–2020.
Featured image via: Wikimedia Commons
