Canadian regulatory umbrella group The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) has announced that its provincial member regulators have signed a fintech co-operation agreement with the Financial Supervisory Commission of Taiwan (FSC). The members are the securities regulatory authorities in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Québec and Saskatchewan.

The agreement extends the work of the CSA Regulatory Sandbox Initiative and the FSC FinTech Regulatory Sandbox. Notably, it includes a referral mechanism for innovative businesses, and will enhance and clearly define information-sharing between these jurisdictions.

“Canadian and Taiwanese innovative businesses will now have access to new regulated markets with this agreement between the CSA and the FSC,” said Louis Morisset, CSA Chair and President and CEO of the Autorité des marchés financiers. “Investors and the fintech industry will benefit from our regulatory environments, which combine flexibility with appropriate investor protection measures.”

“This co-operation agreement between Canada and Taiwan aims to promote financial innovation, enhance supervisory cooperation, and facilitate market access for FinTech businesses on both sides”, said by Dr. Tien-Mu Huang, Chairperson of Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission. “Canada is a well-established financial innovation hub. Taiwan is equipped with abundant technological talents, strong innovation capabilities and mature financial industry. This bilateral agreement is designed to create a mechanism for financial technology cooperation between Canada and Taiwan.”

For certain CSA members, the agreement with the FSC will come into effect once all governmental approvals have been obtained.

The CSA, the council of the securities regulators of Canada’s provinces and territories, co-ordinates and harmonizes regulation for the Canadian capital markets.

The FSC is the sole financial regulator in Taiwan responsible for the soundness of financial markets and institutions offering banking, insurance and capital market services.