The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) allows for the growth of new initiatives in the fin-tech world. These could include information referrals, where regulators connect innovators to improve speed to market, and information sharing, where New York and the Jewish state will exchange information regarding regulatory and policy issues or emerging market trends.
Hedva Bar, Supervisor of Banks, said this type of collaboration meets a “strategic goal” for the Bank of Israel.
“I thank my colleagues and our partners from New York for this cooperation, which will support our ability to be in the frontier of technology while making sure risks of all types are managed according to best international practices,” she said.
Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York State, emphasized that with New York’s position as the “financial capital of the world” it was necessary to keep growing and promoting the field of financial services to meet global demands.
“New York and Israel are both centers of innovation, and given our close friendship, there are many mutual benefits to a partnership in the emerging fin-tech market,” he said. “New York is proud to partner with Israel through this agreement and to work together to ensure that unnecessary barriers to fin-tech development are removed to support current and future innovation.”
The head of capital markets for the Insurance and Savings Authority, Moshe Bareket, is confident that the cooperation between New York and Israel will be “mutually beneficial” to both parties and that exchanges will be “fruitful and constructive.”
Innovation support, where innovators in Israel and New York are guaranteed equal levels of support through points of contact, regulatory frameworks and authorization processes was also included in the memorandum.
Fin-tech dialogues, where regulators confer together to discuss “areas of common interest regarding fin-tech innovation” are also a part of this new collaboration. Regulatory staff from both centers of innovation are also expected to give presentations and run training sessions to share expertise and knowledge.
Anat Guetta, the chairwoman of the Israel Securities Authority, said the regulatory partnership allows the authority “to learn about the supervision and regulation required to protect investors’ interests” and at the same time allow space for technological advancements to occur.
“Israel Securities Authority has defined as a strategic goal to promote financial innovation, which includes the development and refinement of the field of Fintech in Israel,” she said. “These MoUs give Fintech companies the possibility to receive regulatory guidance that they need to comply with regulation in Israel and the world markets.”