FCA partners with Australian regulator in innovation drive

Described as a 'world-first' agreement, the regulators will provide support before, during and after authorisation to help reduce regulatory uncertainty and time to market.

The agreement follows the creation of Innovation Hubs at the FCA and ASIC in October 2014 and April 2015 which were set up to help businesses with innovative ideas navigate financial regulation, support them through the authorisation process and engage with the regulator.

To date the FCA’s Innovation Hub has supported over 200 businesses and 18 of these businesses have now been authorised. ASIC has dealt with over 75 innovative start-ups and granted 10 licences.

ASIC and the FCA have also committed to share information on emerging market trends and their impact on regulation.

Christopher Woolard, director of strategy and competition at the FCA, said:

"Innovation in financial services isn’t limited by national borders and so it’s important that we support overseas businesses that have new ideas that could benefit British consumers. We also know that many British firms wish to use the UK as a springboard to launch their businesses or products internationally, making them potentially more sustainable challengers. That is why this agreement – the first of many, we hope – is important. With ASIC, we will reduce the barriers for authorised firms looking to grow to scale overseas and to assist non-UK innovators interested in entering the market we oversee."

Greg Medcraft, chairman, Australian Securities and Investments Commission, said:

"ASIC is committed to encouraging innovation that has the potential to benefit financial consumers and investors. Since ASIC launched its Innovation Hub last year we have seen a surge in requests by fintech startups seeking assistance about how to navigate the regulatory requirements. In particular we have dealt with robo or digital advice, crowd sourced equity funding, payments, marketplace lending and blockchain business models. It is very exciting to observe and clearly some business ideas will want to scale up internationally. We believe this agreement with the FCA will help break down barriers to entry both here and in the UK."