Vietnam's central bank to regulate fintech companies

The State Bank of Vietnam plans to develop a regulatory sandbox for financial technology companies as it looks to gather feedback on draft regulations for the sector, Viet Nam News reported April 9, citing the central bank.

The sandbox will enable fintech companies to test products in a regulatory environment while allowing the State Bank of Vietnam to gain experience in managing the sector.

The central bank will allow some risks in the sandbox to gain a better understanding of the dangers so that it can build a legal framework that encourages innovation, prevents financial risk and promotes financial stability.

The State Bank of Vietnam noted that the number of fintech companies in the country has increased fourfold since 2016 and many services, including peer-to-peer lending and data sharing via application programming interfaces, have emerged without adequate legal frameworks.