The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) released the name of 29 companies that have been accepted into the fifth cohort of its regulatory sandbox this Tuesday.
Launched in 2017 with its first cohort of firms, the British regulator’s sandbox provides businesses with a secure environment to test-run their new products and services.
In turn, the regulator can work with those companies to design regulations which are tailored to meet the demands posed by new technologies.
Of the 29 firms accepted into the latest sandbox, eight companies plan on using blockchain technology to provide their products and services.
Amongst them were some major businesses.
For example, the London Stock Exchange Group said that it plans on integrating distributed ledger technology (DLT) - in other words, Blockchain - into its securities trading venues.
Standard Chartered Bank is also joining the regulatory sandbox. The bank, which has its headquarters in London, is planning on tokenizing retail deposits.
Tokenised real estate
A number of less well known, at least to the average Joe, technology companies were also part of the FCA’s latest cohort.
Renso, for example, is one of a number of firms - not in the sandbox but in the broader market - attempting to tokenize real estate so that it is more accessible to investors.
Also on the FCA’s list is Fractal.
Based in London, the firm plans on using blockchain technology to provide loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The blockchain company also wants to tokenize SME debt into securities.
Outside of the blockchain industry, a sizeable proportion of the firms in the FCA’s sandbox are working on Payments .
Currensea, for example, plans on launching a Monzoesque debit card that allows users to pay from their existing bank account at low rates when travelling abroad.
