Sebi proposes framework for 'regulatory sandbox' for financial institutions

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Tuesday proposed a framework for ‘regulatory sandbox’. The term is used to define live testing of new products and services on a small set of customers for a limited period of time. 

Typically, the regulatory provisions are relaxed during the testing period. The proposal on regulatory sandbox comes days after the market regulator issued a framework for ‘innovation sandbox’, which allows fintech firms not regulated by Sebi to test their products and offerings.

“Sebi plans to introduce a framework, which will be called regulatory sandbox. Under this framework, financial institutions regulated by Sebi shall be granted certain facilities and flexibilities to experiment with fintech solutions in a live environment and on real customers. These features will be fortified with necessary safeguards for investor protection and risk mitigation,” the regulator said.