On 17 July 2021, the Decree of the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance No. 100 of 30 April 2021 setting out the criteria to test FinTech initiatives in a sandbox environment (the "Sandbox") entered into force (the “Decree”) (please see here and here our previous newsflashes for further information). 

Pursuant to the Decree relevant supervisory authorities may establish timeframes of a maximum two-month period for filing applications of FinTech innovative projects.

On the basis of the above, on 30 September Bank of Italy, CONSOB and IVASS announced the opening of the first window for submitting applications to the Sandbox from 15 November 2021.

Applications to access the Sandbox can be made for activities based on innovative technology affecting the banking, financial or insurance sector and which, alternatively:

• are subject to prior authorization or registration by one of the supervisory authorities (or fall within the cases of exclusion or exemption provided for by the applicable laws);
• are carried out in favour of entities that are supervised by at least one supervisory authority (also operating in Italy on the basis of the freedom to provide services or freedom of establishment regime);
• are carried out by entities supervised by at least one supervisory authority or by a foreign entity operating in Italy on the basis of the freedom to provide services or freedom of establishment regime.

In order to be admitted to the Sandbox, projects must meet all the eligibility criteria set out under the Decree. Supervisory authorities will publish the application forms to be used as well as further details on the mentioned criteria before the opening date. 

No limits have been set on the maximum number of applications or on the thematic areas of the proposed projects. 

Next steps

The applications for the first cohort of the Sandbox will be open from 15 November 2021 to 15 January 2022.

For more information, please see here.