Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser is adding her city to the mostly Republican jurisdictions considering fintech sandboxes to promote financial innovation by lowering regulatory burdens. Photo credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Usually, it’s Republican domains considering light touch, experimental regulatory sandboxes for fintech startups.
Now, the Democratic hotbed of Washington, DC is joining them.
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser is forming the District of Columbia Financial Services Regulatory Sandbox and Innovation Council to look into the feasibility and desirability of the approach.
“Washington, DC, is a creative, tech-savvy city…“We want the District on the cutting edge—utilizing the intersection of technology and financial services to benefit our residents and businesses,” DC Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking Commissioner Stephen Taylor said in a statement.
He alluded to the potential fintech advocates claim for the technology to make financial services affordable for the first time to low income, inner city residents.
Bowser has directed the advisory group to review barriers fintech, insurtech, regtech, and other technology companies face in the District and how the impediments can be mitigated or eliminated to encourage innovation through blockchain and smart contracts.
At the same time, the mayor wants the panel to study the potential dangers sandboxes pose to consumers and possible safeguards.
Members will include representatives from the securities, insurance, banking and lending, and technology industries and consumer advocates.
Industry members will outnumber the consumer representatives by roughly 4 to 1.
The Council is required to make recommendations to her in six months.
Bowser said she wants the recommendations to include advice on how the city’s government can use blockchain to reduce the regulatory burden on local financial services providers.