• FinTech Regulation and A Review of Taiwan’s Financial Regulatory Sandbox Framework

Abstract

Purpose –This article aims to analyze the main characteristics and risks of FinTech development and the regulatory strategies employed by world’s regulators to respond to those risks. It also studies the legal construct of the UK, Singapore, and Australia’s FinTech regulatory sandbox regimes and identifies their common elements.

Design/methodology/approach – Comparative legal and regulatory study

Findings – This article examines whether the design of Taiwan’s Financial Regulatory Sandbox Regime is in line with core elements of global regulatory sandbox regimes and concludes five dimensions for future reforms: mechanisms for regulator-industry collaboration, arrangements for reducing uncertainty over the applicable laws and regulatory standards, design of the post-experiment regime, arrangements for reducing entry barriers to the market while protecting the interests of participants in sandbox experiments, and mechanisms for supporting and facilitating FinTech innovations.

Research limitations/implications – The world’s regulatory sandbox regimes have been rapidly evolving for the past few years, and therefore due to the time and resource limit, this research can only chose the sandbox regimes from three most representative countries instead of conducting a systemic study of each country’s sandbox regime.

Practical implications/Social implications –The social implications of this article lie in its reflections on Taiwan’s FinTech regulation, the regulatory sandbox regime and the analytical framework it proposes, to foster strategic thinking, build up foundations for constant dialogue among the industry, policymakers and academics.

Originality/value – The core value of this article lies in its identification of the core elements of the regulatory sandbox regime from a strategic perspective and then based on which policymakers and regulators in Taiwan can fine-tune the country’s sandbox regime.

Keywords – FinTech, FinTech Regulation, Financial Regulatory Sandbox, FinTech Innovative Experimentation