BSE sets up innovation sandbox web portal for fintechs, individuals

Leading stock exchange BSE on Friday said it has set up an "innovation sandbox" web portal where fintech firms and individuals may use the environment for offline testing of their applications in a test environment.

This will help in creating an ecosystem which promotes innovation in the securities market, the exchange said in a statement.

The portal is a workflow-based platform, where applicants will be able to access application programming interfaces (APIs), test data of stock exchanges, depositories and qualified registrar and share transfer agents, among others.

Participants interested in using this facility can submit their application on this web portal with details of their proposal.

After the due approval by the innovation sandbox committee, the applicant can get the access to test its product or solution.

In June 2020, markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) released guidelines for the regulatory sandbox, enabling entities regulated by the watchdog to test their new solutions in a live environment and on a limited set of real customers with necessary safeguards.

The move was aimed at encouraging adoption and usage of financial technologies to further develop and maintain a transparent securities market ecosystem.