UK Government and the FCA Outline Fintech Innovation Strategy

14 Apr 2016 10:33 AM

Find more details here on upcoming government and regulatory initiatives to nurture innovation in the UK financial services space.

In her capacity as Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Harriet Baldwin was pleased to announce a number of measures in support of the UK’s vibrant and growing Fintech sector, at Innovate Finance’s 2016 Global Summit held on 11th of April at the Guildhall in London.

Reiterating the importance of the sector, which generated £6.6bn in revenue last year and has a workforce totalling over 60,000 employees, announced was:

• The establishment of an industry-led FinTech panel and a corresponding delivery function to monitor developments in the UK sector and drive initiatives to fruition (in particular the open banking standard)
• Harriet Baldwin’s ministerial championing of the Pensions Dashboard (which resulted from the Financial Advice Market Review)
• The creation of a professional services information hub for fintech startups to source legal and accountancy services cost-effectively
• The launch of the ‘Fintech bridges’ initative in collaboration with UKTI to help UK fintechs expand in priority markets

Following Harriet Baldwin’s address, Christopher Woolard, Director of Policy Risk and Research at the FCA, revealed more details surrounding Project Innovate’s regulatory sandbox initiative, which will allow companies to test innovative products, services and new business models. It is the first of its kind globally and will launch on the 9th of May. techUK members will soon receive a demonstration of the sandbox from the FCA ahead of its launch (an invitation and agenda will follow)

techUK will monitor these developments accordingly and plug-in where necessary, to ensure the voice of the tech industry is heard in discussions related to the ongoing drive to nurture innovation in the financial services space.

You can view Harriet Baldwin’s address here, and Chrisopher Woolard’s remarks on the upcoming regulatory sandbox here.