London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Jul 30, 2025

BVI FSC to invite applications for fintech "sandbox"

BVI FSC to invite applications for fintech "sandbox"

“Digitalisation is our ticket,” Jennifer Potter-Questelles, deputy managing director of corporate services at the Financial Services Commission, said last week during the FSC’s annual Meet the Regulator forum.

To help prove it, the commission plans to invite applications to the Virgin Islands’ new “sandbox” for financial technology, providing a testing environment that allows companies to experiment with new ideas within the VI’s regulatory framework without the full weight of the usual rules.

In the process, industry stakeholders hope the territory will attract new companies interested in the fast-growing “fintech” space.

“Integrity and sustainability of the industry are dependent on all the collective parts and more importantly on our connections to each other,” Ms. Potter-Questelles told the roughly 130 industry practitioners gathered at H. Lavity Stoutt Community College for the July 3 forum.

“Weak links, whether large or small, can have significant effect and impact. Sometimes size doesn’t matter, but strength always does. We need every connection to be strong.”

New sandbox

Kishelle Blaize‐Cameron, deputy director in the FSC’s Investment Business Division, explained how the regulatory regime would work.

Specific provisions of the regulatory legislation and regulatory code would be “disapplied” to participants in the sandbox, who can apply beginning in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to Ms. Blaize-Cameron.

These participants — which may include VI-registered and foreign companies — must include a detailed testing proposal and an exit strategy, meaning the company must cease operations after a certain date, she explained.

To qualify, companies must prove that they are “fit and proper,” demonstrating competence, integrity and financial soundness, according to Ms. Blaize-Cameron. In her presentation, she explained that they would be limited to a maximum number of clients, pay a fee, and be required to submit periodic progress reports.

Sandbox history

Since the rise of fintech, calls for a sandbox regime in the VI have been floated. The plan for the regime surfaced in Governor Gus Jaspert’s Speech from the Throne in March 2018, when he said the then-National Democratic Party-led government pledged to “use legislative measures to establish a regulatory sandbox regime to help develop new financial services product legislation.”

The same month, Ayanna Hull, a counsel at Harneys, said the territory was working on drafting related legislation, which she said would give innovators like cryptocurrency exchanges the opportunity to do trial runs in the territory to see if the VI’s regulations work for them. No legislation was introduced, however.

Kyla Forbes, a corporate communications associate at the FSC, in an email to the Beacon, wrote that “Regulations are to be issued under the Financial Services Commission Act, 2001 to enable and govern the Regulatory Sandbox operations.”

Other jurisdictions that have experimented with sandboxes in an effort to increase fintech innovation include the United Kingdom, Jersey, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Canada and Malaysia, according to a recent white paper by Mirza Manraj at Harneys. Other Commonwealth countries have explored the concept as well.

Other presentations

Expanding on the forum’s digital focus, Kenneth Baker, deputy managing director of regulation at the FSC, explained how the commission is also digitising its anti-money-laundering processes and amending regulations to accommodate electronic verifications of identity.

Janay Waters and Chelcy Forbes, also from the Investment
Business Division, presented on system improvements to the application portal on mutual funds annual returns.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Former Judge Charged After Drunk Driving Crash Kills Comedian in Brazil
Jeff Bezos hasn’t paid a dollar in taxes for decades. He makes billions and pays $0 in taxes, LEGALLY
China Increases Use of Exit Bans Amid Rising U.S. Tensions
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Procter & Gamble to Raise U.S. Prices to Offset One‑Billion‑Dollar Tariff Cost
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
Botswana Seeks Controlling Stake in De Beers as Anglo American Prepares Exit
Trump Administration Proposes Repeal of Obama‑Era Endangerment Finding, Dismantling Regulatory Basis for CO₂ Emissions Limits
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
A family has been arrested in the UK for displaying the British flag
Mel Gibson refuses to work with Robert De Niro, saying, "Keep that woke clown away from me."
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
The British propaganda channel BBC News lies again.
Deputy attorney general's second day of meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell has concluded
Controversial March in Switzerland Features Men Dressed in Nazi Uniforms
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
×