SECP holds awareness session

ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has organised introductory sessions on recently launched regulatory sandbox initiative, a statement said on Monday.

“In the sessions held in Karachi and Lahore, participants were briefed upon process of registration in Sandbox and its benefits for startups and financial institution,” the commission said in its statement.

SECP had opened its first cohort under Pakistan’s first ever Regulatory Sandbox on February 1, 2020, under which, the application window will be open till March 15, 2020 for all eligible persons including registered companies and unregistered startups, it said.

“Regulatory Sandbox is available for insurance sector, non-banking finance sector, capital markets, and overall corporate sector, while its guidelines for 2019 have already been issued,” the SECP said.

Regulatory Sandboxes are becoming increasingly popular regulatory tools internationally. As of now, more than 50 countries have introduced their respective regulatory sandboxes with similar objectives.

With the aim to promote innovation and encourage entities/persons involved in the market, SECP organised these introductory awareness sessions that attracted corporates, startups, brokers, and insurance firms looking to leverage existing or new technologies to deliver new financial products or services in the market.