Key facts:
Spain’s regulatory sandbox will receive applications between March 1 and April 12, 2022.
The last call resulted in the selection of only 4 projects.
Next March 1 opens a new period for receiving projects that will be evaluated to participate in the controlled test space or regulatory sandbox for Fintech in Spain. This is the third call published by the General Secretariat of the Treasury and International Financing within the framework of the law for the digital transformation of the Spanish financial system.
The document published by the regulator indicates that those interested in participating in the regulatory sandbox They will have the opportunity to submit their applications until April 12, 2022. As in previous calls, the publication includes a guide with the information to record to evaluate the projects.
A Regulatory Sandbox is a space created by supervisory authorities to test innovative projects, in this case, related to financial sector technologies (Fintech). In these spaces, the projects have the opportunity to work with real users, in an environment controlled and closely supervised by the competent regulators.
The authorities of Spain, like those of other countries, such as Colombia, are using this strategy for the regulation of the Fintech sector, Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. As reported by CriptoNoticias, at the beginning of November 2020, the Spanish Senate ratified the Law for the digital transformation of the financial system, which established the bases for the regulatory sandbox.
The normative It requires that the projects must imply a “potential added value” in aspects such as improvements in legal compliance and/or the supervision of regulators, access and availability of the service for users, or market efficiency.
Since 2020, the selection of projects that participate in the first two cohorts of the Spanish sandbox has been completed. In the first of them, 18 projects were chosen, of which 9 are related to cryptocurrencies and/or blockchain networks. However, as a result of the second selection, they just entered the sandbox 4 projects; one of them, focused on the DeFi area (decentralized finance) and another on the trading of shares or tokenized securities.
What to expect for the third cohort of the sandbox
The environment that frames this third call for the regulatory sandbox in Spain this year 2022, includes a couple of decisions of the entities in charge, in relation to the supervision and use of cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin.
The first is the entry into force of the rule governing advertising on crypto assets on February 17. The regulation, designed by the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) of Spain, implies the prior approval of the advertising pieces of services related to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, by the regulator.
A second noteworthy fact is the recent elimination of the sanctions regime that was part of a law on assets abroad. Said rule, created by the Spanish Ministry of Finance, required the declaration of holdings of bitcoins (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies in foreign exchanges, under penalty of fines that could reach up to 100% of the assets.
As reported by CriptoNoticias, although the obligation to report holdings of cryptocurrencies abroad is maintained, the fines were annulled by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).