The Sarb describes fintech as technologies applied to financial services with the potential to disrupt current business models, applications, processes or products. To evaluate the regulatory implications of these innovations, a framework is used to assess the impact of these developments in terms of the underlying economic function or activity performed (deposit taking, payments, lending and investments) as opposed to the specific entity or technology being used.
The fintech programme will focus on three primary objectives:
ConsenSys (a world-leading expert on Quorum) will partner with the Sarb in the design, setup of infrastructure and running of the POC. This does not imply a radical move to DLT for the country’s national payments infrastructure, but rather a structured approach to understand the implication of using a tokenised asset on DLT technology to transfer value. A public report will be released to explain all the findings, risks and benefits of the associated project during the second quarter of 2018.