To encourage innovative financial technology (fintech) in the Kingdom’s securities sector, the Securities and Exchange Regulator of Cambodia (SERC) has established the FinTech Regulatory Sandbox.
The FinTech Regulatory Sandbox is an environment that allows companies to experiment with innovative financial products or services with real customers in a production environment, but within a well-defined area and for a limited duration before launching and promoting on a wider scale.
Companies that want to use technology in an innovative way to offer financial products or services that are likely to be regulated by SERC can apply for approval to enter the FinTech Regulatory Sandbox.
To be approved to enter the sandbox, applicants must meet the requirements, principles and criteria defined in Guideline No. 001/22 on the FinTech Regulatory Sandbox in the Securities Sector, dated 11 April 2022.
The Sandbox aims to encourage fintech experimentation within a well-defined space and time frame to:
• Increase efficiency;
• Manage risk better;
• Create new opportunities;
• Improve people’s lives.
The principles of the Fintech Sandbox include:
• There will be no similarities to existing financial products or services in the securities sector;
• Innovations must create added value for existing financial products in the sector;
• Benefits that can be determined directly or indirectly to customers or the securities industry must be provided;
• Provide a well-defined space and time frame for experimentation;
• The risk and consequences arising from a failed experiment can be limited;
• Due diligence will be observed, including when testing the proposed financial products and services in an experimental environment, with the legal and regulatory requirements understood.
To encourage innovation, SERC will consider relaxations or exemptions from regulatory requirements for the duration of the Fintech Sandbox.
This can either be in the form of a comprehensive exemption or specific exemptions from case to case, depending on the financial product or service to be experimented with and the subject of the trials, or at the request of the applicant.
After successful experimentation and out of the sandbox, the device must fully comply with the relevant legal and regulatory requirements.
Reference: Guideline No. 001/22 on the FinTech Regulatory Sandbox in the Securities Sector, dated 11 April 2022.
Prepared by: Securities and Exchange Regulator of Cambodia, Securities Intermediaries Supervision Department.
Email: [email protected].
Telephone: 023 885611.
