The trend of financial regulators co-operating to speed up fintech innovation continues.

Australian and British financial regulators have agreed to intensify how they cooperate in driving financial technology and accelerate licencing of new ideas as competition in the space heats up.

The “enhanced co-operation agreement” has been signed by the Financial Conduct Authority the the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. The pact follows a “fintech bridge” signed by UK and Australian government ministers.

The regulators agreed to explore how to quicken how businesses that are authorised in Australia or the UK can be licenced in the other country.

“Where a business is a participant in either Authority’s regulatory sandbox and would like to enter the other’s, the FCA and ASIC will endeavour to facilitate that participation,” the FCA said in a statement yesterday.  

The FCA and ASIC will also look to co-host fintech and regtech events, conduct joint policy work, research and experimentation and explore secondment opportunities. They will work to raise topics or approaches of common interest at an international level to promote greater levels of international cooperation on financial innovation, the FCA continued.

“Cooperation between regulators is a vital part of helping innovative businesses across international jurisdictions to flourish and bring their products to market for the benefit of consumers. Back in 2016 when we signed the original agreement with ASIC, we stated that we hoped that it would be the first of many to come. I am pleased to say that this has certainly been the case,” Christopher Woolard, FCA’s Executive Director of Strategy and Competition, said.