ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has permitted the launch of the first cohort of Regulatory Sandbox Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Lending Network to help and foster the country’s Fintech revolution.
Sources disclosed to Benefit that Finja, a venture capital backed fintech focused on digital lending to SMEs and salaried professionals, was granted approval for the launch.
An official statement issued by the commission said, “This approval for testing and experimentation of a P2P Lending Platform by SECP is attributed towards development of an ecosystem for SME financing to achieve higher growth prospects and to create new employment and business opportunities.”
P2P lending is a revolutionary digital alternative network that links borrowers to individual lenders who come together to meet the loan requirements of borrowers. The P2P loans help borrowers give out short-term loans that allow small and medium-sized companies to scale up their businesses and ultimately qualify them for larger bank loans.
The P2P lending platform will function within pre-defined parameters during the testing/experimentation process and is subject to certain terms and conditions.Moreover when choosing each lender/borrower on the platform, specific eligibility requirements often apply.
In the absence of a legislative system, these terms and conditions have been imposed to tackle the inherent risks involved in the use of such platforms. These terms and conditions shall, however be reconsidered in parallel with the findings of the experimentation process of the P2P Lending Platform in question. This will assist the SECP to formulate the much needed regulatory structure for allowing it.
The regulatory sandbox of the SECP is the structure for accommodating the provision of financial services using emerging technologies. It enables FinTech companies to test their services and encourage, within a restricted, well-defined framework, the implementation of new technologies in a live environment.
