The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK has formed an agreement with the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC).
The deal is designed to simplify the process for fintech startups from one market to access that of the other.
As part of this bond, the FCA and OSC will collaborate by sharing information on regulatory issues, as well as information on emerging trends in the market.
The FCA set up an innovation hub in 2014 with the intention of supporting new firms in the process of managing complex regulation areas. This comparatively early implementation is indicative of an interest in getting London ahead on fintech.
OSC has reflected a similar energy to gain a forefront position for Toronto in financial technology, with the introduction of their own platform to support fintech startups called ‘LaunchPad’.
Read more: Bank of England’s Mark Carney predicts fintech game changer
The news of this action comes shortly after HM Treasury in the UK issued the proposal that state-owned RBS be transformed into a fintech fund. This idea would involve RBS becoming a gateway to assist smaller businesses traverse the challenging early phases of development.
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The Canadian born Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, has also placed a focus on fintech in recent news. He said that the future of fintech could be the transformation of global banking as we know it.
He said: “diversification could be positive for stability; after all the existing tiered and highly concentrated system has created single point of failure risks. At the same time, regulators would need to monitor such changes for any new concentrations.”
Reported by Finextra, Christopher Woolard, executive director at the FCA, said that the deal with the OSC: “provides fintech businesses in Ontario and the UK with ready access to the regulatory support they need and we look forward to welcoming firms referred to us by the OSC to assist them in understanding the UK market and its financial regulation”.
