Financial authorities in the UK and in the US have agreed to work together and support technology start-ups through each other’s FinTech initiatives.
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have signed an agreement focusing on sharing information on FinTech trends and facilitating referrals of companies looking to enter both markets.
The move follows the launch of the FCA’s Innovate and the CFTC’s LabCFTC FinTech initiatives, aiming towhich aim to support the development of newly established technology providers.
Andrew Bailey, chief executive of the FCA, described the agreement as an important one, as international borders should not act as a barrier to innovation and competition in financial services.
“As our first agreement of this kind with a US regulator, we look forward to working with LabCFTC in assisting firms, both here in the UK and in the US, who want to scale and expand internationally in our respective markets,” he added.
Similarly, CFTC chairman Christopher Giancarlo, explained the agreement with the FCA is the first FinTech innovation agreement with a non-US counterpart.
“We believe that by collaborating with the best-in-class FCA FinTech team, the CFTC can contribute to the growing awareness of the critical role of regulators in 21st century digital markets,” he said.
The FCA’s Innovate initiative has supported over 500 firms and the authorisation of 43 businesses since its launch in October 2014.
LabCFTC has engaged with over 150 companies since its launch last year and published its first primer on the topic of virtual currencies.