OSC joins global network of regulators on financial innovation

The OSC has joined a global network of financial regulators to share information and help innovative financial service firms, the commission announced Tuesday.

The Global Financial Innovation Network (GFIN) aims to support innovative firms who want to operate in multiple countries, an OSC release said. It will also help regulators share information.

The group is made up of a dozen financial regulators and related organizations from around the world, including Quebec’s Autorité des marchés financiers, the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

The initiative follows a FCA proposal for a “global sandbox” for financial services regulators.

In a consultation paper, the GFIN says financial services innovations are increasingly global, with AI, big data and blockchain-based solutions rolling out in different markets.

“Financial services regulators must reconsider existing ways of working and collaborating, in order to balance potential benefits of innovation (for consumers and the financial sector as a whole) with traditional policy objectives, namely financial stability, integrity, financial inclusion, competition and consumer wellbeing and protection,” the document says.

“We believe the GFIN could serve three main functions: act as a network of regulators to collaborate, sharing experience and best practice, and communicate to firms; provide a forum for joint policy work; and provide firms with an environment in which to trial cross-border solutions.”

The document contains a number of consultation questions, with feedback due Oct. 14.

Read the consultation document here.

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Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.