Regulatory Sandbox
Benefits
- The Regulatory Sandbox provides existing and potential financial market participants with the opportunity to test and verify compliance of innovative services with regulatory requirements under the testing plan approved by Latvijas Banka. Its objective is to help understand the regulatory framework and, in particular, applicability of the existing legal framework to innovative financial services or business models.
- The Regulatory Sandbox offers a special regulative regime enabling promoters of innovative ideas, project teams and start-ups to develop new business models or services in cooperation with Latvijas Banka before offering them on the financial market or business scaling in the European Union.
- The Regulatory Sandbox enables the supervisor to get know and identify potential barriers to innovation development. The Regulatory Sandbox helps to strengthen the stability of the financial system and protect the service users' interests.
What is it for?
- Investment firms
- Electronic money issuers
- Payment service providers
- Crowdfunding service providers
- Crypto asset services providers
- InsurTech
- RegTech
The Regulatory Sandbox is open to all financial service companies that want to introduce an innovative financial service or business model, regardless of whether they are subject to supervision or are newcomers. This is a place for innovative solutions and models that either have not been offered in Latvia until now or are not protected by the current regulation.
Regulatory Sandbox: Action Steps
Information on the applicant and a detailed description of innovative services.
Latvijas Banka in cooperation with the applicant draws up a test plan and sets the period of testing.
The applicant submits testing results and information on the achievement of the target (risk assessment, procedurs etc.).
If the test is successful, Latvijas Banka removes operational restrictions (if any), and the applicant is entitled to provide the chosen service fully in accordance with the regulatory enactments.
Latvijas Banka evaluates the application and gives an opinion on the compliance of applicant's innovative financial services with the principles of Regulatory Sandbox.
3 to 6 months, possibility to extend to 12 months.
The applicant provides regular reports on the implementation of the plan, risk assessment, information on the development of the required (missing) mesures and testing results.
Information on the applicant and a detailed description of innovative services.
Latvijas Banka evaluates the application and gives an opinion on the compliance of applicant's innovative financial services with the principles of Regulatory Sandbox.
Latvijas Banka in cooperation with the applicant draws up a test plan and sets the period of testing.
3 to 6 months, possibility to extend to 12 months.
The applicant provides regular reports on the implementation of the plan, risk assessment, information on the development of the required (missing) mesures and testing results.
The applicant submits testing results and information on the achievement of the target (risk assessment, procedurs etc.).
If the test is successful, Latvijas Banka removes operational restrictions (if any), and the applicant is entitled to provide the chosen service fully in accordance with the regulatory enactments.
Applicants
- Existing financial market participants
- Potential financial market participants whose activities further require authorisation of Latvijas Banka (licence or registration)
- Providers of technical services in the financial field such as RegTech or InsurTech
What service is suitable for testing in the Regulatory Sandbox?
- A new or substantially improved financial service in the national context, in the areas such as payment services, financial instruments or virtual assets.
- The service focusses primarily on users of Latvian financial services with an option to offer the service also in other European Union member states.
- The service makes an important contribution to its users, and the contribution to the consumers could take any of the following forms:
- the service would be more beneficial, inexpensive and simpler for the consumer;
- individual intermediate steps would be excluded from the traditional supply chain (e.g., excludes the card scheme);
- the innovative service idea in the financial market could potentially result in a response from the traditional market participants, either by improving their service or by adopting the new innovative business model;
- customers would have access to a financial market share that has not usually been available to them.
Application form for the Regulatory Sandbox
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Types of activities
- An existing financial market participant may perform a test in the external environment in accordance with the test plan approved by Latvijas Banka.
- A potential financial market participant may perform a test in its internal environment in accordance with the test plan approved by Latvijas Banka, in parallel performing a licensing process.
- A potential financial market participant, who needs a licence to perform a test in the external environment, at first performs a licensing process.
