Revolution and regulation can get into some ugly squabbles when they abut one another. This is obviously true in technology; strict laws governing finance and healthcare, for example, can shackle much-desired innovation.

Some regulators and techies are working together to develop technologies that don’t incite drawn-out battles over legislative fine print.

“Technology is changing the paradigm of the financial system, and the change is happening extremely fast,” said Yasmeen Al-Sharaf (pictured, left), head of the fintech and innovation unit at the Central Bank of Bahrain.

Bahrain has always been considered a center of excellence in finance, according to Al-Sharaf. To maintain that position, the nation’s institutions are determined to place themselves on the cutting edge of new financial technology.

Al-Sharaf and Abdulla Almoayed (right), founder and chief executive officer of Almoayed Technologies, spoke with John Furrier, host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the AWS Summit Bahrain event. They discussed Central Bank’s efforts to harmonize regulation with technological innovation (see the full interview with transcript here). (* Disclosure below.)

Techies and regulators powwow for progress

Central Bank is putting regulators and startups in sandboxes to innovate and test new technologies. Together, they can hone innovative — and compliant — technologies more quickly. Benefits, feasibility and inherent risks are all examined at once, according to Al-Sharaf.

“A sandbox is really a controlled, live-bound, time-bound environment enabling startups, as well as existing financial institutions, to test out their innovative solutions under the strict supervision of the regulator — without being required to abide by full regulatory requirements — directly with volunteer customers,” Al-Sharaf said. 

Central Bank launched its sandbox program in 2017. So far, it has hosted 35 companies, two of which have “graduated.” One is a crypto-asset provider; the other is an open-banking service provider.

“Our experience with the sandbox has enabled us to grow and develop as regulators,” Al-Sharaf explained. “It has enabled us to maintain open communication with innovators, to learn the needs of innovators, and to enable innovators to get familiarized with the regulatory environment of the Kingdom of Bahrain.” 

Bahrain has mandated regulation of open application program interfaces with cryptographic signatures, ultimate security of frameworks, and now has robust infrastructure throughout, according to Almoayed.

“I think Bahrain will become the global reference point for open banking very soon,” Almoayed said. 

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the AWS Summit Bahrain. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the AWS Summit Bahrain event. Neither Amazon Web Services Inc., the sponsor for theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE