A new Cullen International report found that only two countries in the Americas, Brazil and Colombia, have adopted specific regulation for regulatory sandboxes.

However, there is a growing trend to implement regulatory sandboxes for the finance or fintech sectors.  Six of the studied countries (Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and the USA) implemented fintech sandboxes.

In Colombia, sectoral regulators implemented sandboxes covering:

• innovative projects in the ICT and postal sectors; and
• privacy by design and default in artificial intelligence projects.

Regulatory sandboxes provide a real world, controlled environment, enabling the testing of innovative technologies over a limited time period and based on a plan agreed with the competent authorities. Sandboxes typically allow for different degrees of regulatory relief (e.g. not being subject to certain rules) for their beneficiaries during the operation of the sandbox. Some regulatory sandboxes also give an opportunity to regulators to reflect on whether some of the existing regulatory frameworks need to be modernised or if new legislation is needed.

Cullen International’s new benchmark surveys whether regulatory sandboxes exist at a national level for either telecoms services or digital services, including fintech, data protection, cybersecurity, and data-related technologies.

To access the full benchmark, please click on “Access the full content” - or on “Request Access”, in case you are not subscribed to our Americas Digital Economy Service.