NAIROBI, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- Kenya plans to put in place a policy framework for Fintech (financial technology) oversight modeled on a Regulatory Sandbox, officials said on Thursday.
Paul Muthaura, CEO of Capital Markets Authority (CMA), told a financial forum in Nairobi that the proposed regulations will create an innovative environment for innovators to test their products before they venture into commercial scale.
"The coming into force of a guiding policy and legislative framework on the adoption of Fintech will herald a new phase in the growth trajectory of our capital markets," Muthaura said during the Regulatory Sandbox Policy Guidance Note Validation Workshop.
He said that the fintech regulatory sandbox will be a market-reflective and facilitative policy that will only serve financial innovations that are directly within the regulatory perimeter of the CMA.
Muthaura said that CMA's commitment to the introduction of a sandbox is firmly drawn from the Kenya Capital Markets Master Plan 2014/2023 which identifies technological innovation as one of the five centers of excellence of the Kenyan capital markets that the industry aspires to deliver.
He added that the regulator has taken a number of progressive steps to create a conducive environment to unlock the potential of the Fintech space in Kenya, including the signing of cooperation agreements with regulators with some well-established Fintech frameworks.
Further, the CMA has also leveraged from these cooperation arrangements to build significant capacity in the area of Fintech to enhance its competence in regulating this ever-evolving space.
