in the european union ’ s ( eu ) fintech action plan, one of the explicit goals is enabling innovative business models to scale up across the eu region through clear and consistent licensing requirements. actions include reviewing regulation on investment - based and lending - based crowdfunding service providers for business. the proposal specifically aims to ensure an appropriate and proportionate regulatory framework, which allows crowdfunding platforms that want to operate cross - border to do so with a comprehensive ‘ passporting ’ regime under unified supervision. another action that supports innovation includes a review of the current authorising and licensing approaches for innovative fintech business models. the european commission will set up an expert group to assess whether there are any unjustified regulatory obstacles to financial innovation in the eu ’ s financial services regulatory framework. page 6 of 11 authorities should therefore not merely acknowledge or observe innovation but should actively review fintech innovations ( including those with new business models ) with a view to ensuring proportionate and consistent authorising and licensing regimes. this practice is driven by an underpinning open philosophy and a flexible approach to fintech. speakers and participants who have had experience of this approach in other jurisdictions will tell us more about the impact of this practice. we will hear how initiatives in cryptocurrencies, digital identity and digital mobile wallets may benefit from a pro - innovation philosophy. we will also hear from jurisdictions with smart nation policies about the importance of such national philosophies and policies. of course, as authorities, we will need to ensure level playing fields and manage the risk of regulatory arbitrage. this is why a coordinated multiple regulator approach is so important. practice 2 : the creation of innovation facilitators such as hubs and sandboxes to keep close to emerging developments and foster shared learning the second practice is the review and creation of structural mechanisms to enable ongoing market engagements. these include efforts aimed at collecting fintech data, organising market outreach initiatives, and implementing structures such as innovation hubs, innovation accelerators and regulatory sandboxes. each of the reports strongly encourages shared learning with a diverse set of private - sector parties. in order to support the benefits of innovation through shared learning and through greater access to information on developments, authorities should continue to improve communication channels with the private sector and should continue sharing their experiences with innovation hubs, innovation accelerators and regulatory sandboxes, besides other forms of interaction. the reports suggest that the successes and challenges derived from such approaches may provide fruitful insights

gill marcus : press conference in connection with african bank limited remarks by ms gill marcus, governor of the south african reserve bank, at a press conference in connection with african bank limited, pretoria, 10 august 2014. * * * members of the media, ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for being here today. as you are aware from our invitation, we have called today ’ s press conference in connection with african bank limited. against the backdrop of african bank ’ s parent company african bank investment limited ’ s ( abil ’ s ) trading update on wednesday, 6th august, 2014, the sarb, in consultation with the minister of finance, has decided to implement a number of support measures. these will further strengthen the resilience of the banking system as a whole, and, importantly, they will provide african bank with the best chance of a viable future. as you are all aware, african bank has received considerable media coverage for some time now. the registrar of banks and his team intensified their active engagement with the management and board of african bank towards the end of 2012. the concerns they expressed particularly focussed on african bank ’ s impairment and provisioning policy, their rapid credit growth, and the need for a strategic rethink of their business model. given these concerns, regular discussions were held by the governors with the banking supervision department to ensure closer monitoring of developments affecting african bank. these meetings commenced in may 2013, and the governors received regular reports on measures taken by the bank supervision department on the steps they required african bank to take in addressing the concerns. at that stage, african bank had a capital adequacy ratio of 32 %, which is above the minimum requirement. the measures taken by african bank as a result of this engagement included a higher level of provisioning for non - performing loans, a review of their provisioning policy, and a rights issue that raised r 5. 5 billion in december 2013. the management was also requested to dispose of ellerine holdings limited. at the initiative of the sarb, discussions were also held with abil ’ s board to appoint a specialist team to assist with restructuring options. in the six month period to march 2014, abil posted a headline loss of r 3. 1 billion. however, they assured the market that the book written after june 2013 was significantly better and forecast that they would return to profitability in the second half of the year. abil ’ s trading statement for the third quarter released on august 6th 2014 was