Singapore is setting a strong example in the regulatory field, with Australia following the same pattern.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) yesterday passed a paper furthering the facilitation of innovation in Australia across the financial services sector. This includes a regulatory sandbox licensing exemption, meaning Australian fintech start-ups are now able to ‘start fast and fail fast’ in a reasonably secure environment and without the regulatory provisions of fully fledged companies.

This follows on from Singapore’s similar announcement less than a week prior, with the Singapore regulator announcing a consolidation paper on proposed guidelines for regulatory sandboxes.

The Australian sandbox was proposed by the federal government and follows on from the 2016-2017 Federal Budget allocation of $200,000 to fintech ventures and the vow to create a technologically driven and innovation driven economy in Australia.

With Australia looking to Singapore for ‘finspiration’, Treasurer Scott Morrison now hopes to boost Australian exports to Asia and capitalise on the holes within the local market.