US and French regulators team up to ease fintech market entry

US and French regulators have formed a partnership to ease entry for fintechs into New York and French markets.

The New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with France’s Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR) in a bid to boost their respective statuses as hubs for financial services technology. Both claim the deal to be the first of its kind.

The MoU agrees to connect fintech innovators between both regions, and promises to ease the regulatory burden of launching in each market with a ‘referral mechanism’ to speed along the pre-authorisation stage.

It also says it will share information on “regulatory, supervisory, and policy issues”, and assign fintech start-ups a contact person to help them navigate each others’ regulatory landscapes.

“This [MoU] will foster collaboration to support cross-border fintech developments, providing entrepreneurs speed to market opportunities in New York and France, while upholding robust consumer protection,” the DFS’s superintendent of financial services Linda Lacewell said in a statement.

Lacewell signed the MoU alongside the Banque de France’s governor and ACPR chairman François Villeroy de Galhau. ACPR is backed by France’s central bank, and acts as the administrative authority which supervises the banking and insurance sectors.

The DFS is the governmental body responsible for regulating all financial services and products in New York.

“This [MoU] is the first cooperation agreement on fintech signed by the ACPR with an American Authority,” said de Galhau. “It underscores the ties between the two authorities and their strong commitment to innovation.”