Innovation is critical to every sector. In financial services – which is a significant contributor to Malta’s economy – innovation can add sustainability and contribute to overall business performance and success.
Yet, innovation doesn’t just happen on its own – it requires the right culture, investment, ideas and regulation. Moreover, it needs a secure environment where it can flourish.
As envisioned within the MFSA Fintech Strategy, the Authority seeks to establish Malta as an international FinTech hub which harnesses and fosters sustainable innovation, and this is exactly what the establishment MFSA FinTech Regulatory Sandbox strives to achieve.
What is a Regulatory Sandbox?
The Sandbox will provide a regulatory environment for FinTech operators to test their innovation for a specified period of time within the financial services markets, under certain prescribed conditions.
The initiative aims to encourage innovation in a sustainable manner while offering true value and protection to consumers of financial services. It will also act as an enabler to enhance legal certainty within the market and encourage knowledge sharing through collaboration and open dialogue.
Who is eligible to participate?
The Regulatory Sandbox welcomes start-ups, technology firms and established financial service providers which endorse technologically enabled financial innovation in their business models, applications or products.
What are the required eligibility criteria to participate in the Sandbox?
In order to be admissible for testing within the Sandbox, applicants must ensure that their proposed solution satisfy the following set of eligibility criteria being (i) innovation (ii) need (iii) benefit and (iv) readiness.
Proposed solutions should be innovative and technologically enabled, demonstrating a genuine need for testing within a controlled environment so that any inherent regulatory gaps and risks are identified.
Additionally, the solution must have identifiable benefits to consumers and be ready for testing with adequate resources to operate for a minimum of one year.
The MFSA encourages interested parties to visit the MFSA FinTech Regulatory Sandbox page whereby the MFSA Rule 3 establishing the Sandbox Rule, respective guidelines and FAQs, together with a dedicated proposal form have been made available online. Further developments and updates will be published on the dedicated page, while any queries are to be addressed to fintech@mfsa.mt.