US Financial Regulators Join UK FCA's 'Global Sandbox'

Four U.S. regulators joined the Global Financial Innovation Network, an international alliance of government regulators led by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority seeking to bolster the future of fintech.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) have all signed onto the GFIN, an SEC spokesman confirmed to CoinDesk.

Their participation in the network - established in August 2018 - brings federal regulators into GFIN’s mission of developing a “global sandbox” for financial innovations.

In a joint press release announcing the news, the regulators said:

“By promoting knowledge-sharing on innovation in financial services, U.S. members of GFIN will seek to advance financial and market integrity, consumer and investor protection, financial inclusion, competition, and financial stability,”

They said that when GFIN launched, it found organizations interested in studying cross-border solutions, from distributed ledger technology (DLT) to initial coin offerings. Regulating these tenants of the crypto space were front-of-mind - some members had already begun implementing cross-border payment channels via DLT.

SEC image via Shutterstock.