Financial regulators in the United States and the UK have signed an agreement to support financial technology initiatives in both countries.
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) entered into the Cooperation Arrangement on Financial Technology Innovation, which focuses on information-sharing regarding fintech market trends and developments.
The arrangement also facilitates referrals of fintech companies interested in entering the others’ market and information sharing between the two.
The arrangement follows the creation of FCA Innovate in October 2014 and LabCFTC in May 2017. These initiatives were set up to help innovate while navigating the regulatory landscape.
“The FCA’s Project Innovate is the gold standard for thoughtful regulatory engagement with emerging technological innovation,” CFTC Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo said. “Therefore, I am delighted to join Andrew Bailey in this arrangement to demonstrate our cross-Atlantic commitment to facilitating market-enhancing innovation and sharing best practices in FinTech engagement.”
He said that by collaborating with FCA, the CFTC can raise awareness of the critical role of regulators in 21st-century digital markets.
“International borders shouldn’t act as a barrier to innovation and competition in financial services and that is why agreements like the one we have signed today with the CFTC, a forward-looking and proactive regulator, are so important,” Andrew Bailey, chief executive of the FCA said. “As our first agreement of this kind with a US regulator, we look forward to working with LabCFTC in assisting firms, both here in the UK and in the US, who want to scale and expand internationally in our respective markets. As part of the Arrangement, the FCA and the CFTC will be hosting a joint event in London to demonstrate how firms can engage with both regulators.”