In order to spur innovation in its regulated sectors, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has announced the launch of the second cohort of its Regulatory Sandbox.
The Regulatory Sandbox is a tailored regulatory environment that allows entities/firms to conduct limited-scale live tests of innovative products, services, processes, and business models in a controlled environment.
The SECP had issued the Regulatory Sandbox Guidelines 2019 earlier last year. Under the second cohort, the application window will be open between 15 April and 14 May 2021 for all eligible persons including registered companies, unregistered startups, and FinTech firms. Unregistered entities will have to get registered upon successful experiments.
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The application form, eligibility criteria, and related documents have been provided in the Regulatory Sandbox Guidelines on the SECP’s website and can be accessed over here.
The SECP has formed a six-member committee headed by its Chairman, Aamir Khan, to evaluate the applications. Preference will be given to innovation in the areas of Digital Assets/Security Token Offerings (STOs), Non-Bank Financial Companies, Blockchain/Distributed Ledger Solutions for Capital Markets, Digital Identity/AML/KYC, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Robotic Processes Automation based solutions in the second cohort. Additionally, female entrepreneurs are highly encouraged to apply.
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All the applications will undergo preliminary screening and detailed evaluation, and the successful applicants will be allowed to test and experiment with their innovative ideas and solutions for a period of six months.
Upon completion of the experimentation period, the entities registered in the Regulatory Sandbox will submit a detailed completion report to the SECP, after which the future course of action for the tested solutions will be determined.
Complete applications with all the requisite information can be emailed to [email protected]
Queries or questions pertaining to the application process can be emailed to [email protected]
