The U.K. government is ramping up its efforts in supporting the country's fintech industry, announcing initiatives to create a fintech strategy unit and information hub for startups.
"This industry-led panel will oversee the overarching strategy for U.K. fintech and ensure the delivery of key initiatives," Baldwin said, according to a copy of the speech posted Monday on the Treasury website. "It will also will have its very own delivery support function, which will monitor and drive initiatives to fruition. It will accelerate the time to market of government and industry initiatives, ensuring that they are targeted where they will add most value."
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As U.S. banks wrangle with account-aggregation sites over screen scraping, the U.K. is championing a safer method for sharing data that could transform the way customers interact with financial institutions.
November 25 -
The United Kingdom has already seen the emergence of mobile-first institutions that have won regulatory approval for a banking charter. It is only a matter of time before they invade the U.S. market.
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Germany's solarisBank is hoping to power the next wave in fintech evolution, by allowing companies to use its banking license and APIs to build scale in their businesses.
March 21
Meanwhile, the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Innovation "is not risk free. But it can be managed, and we want to foster an internal culture that is receptive to new technology and new ways of doing business," Curry said in a speech at Harvard University in late March. The agency is also considering opening an office dedicated to monitoring the fintech sector.
Baldwin also noted that alongside the U.K. Trade and Investment department, the Treasury will work on establishing "fintech bridges" with priority global markets, helping U.K. startups to expand internationally.
Baldwin said the Treasury will be working closely with the Financial Conduct Authority, a regulatory agency, to support the development and adoption of new technologies that facilitate the delivery of regulatory requirements, and announced the creation of a regulatory sandbox to provide innovative businesses with a "safe space" to test innovative products and services.