The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) and the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong have signed an agreement to co-operation with one another in the field of innovative financial technology.

Both regulators say that they are aiming at an "innovations-friendly ecosystem" in their markets. They promise to  share information about developments and innovations and want to refer innovative firms to each other’s markets and to provide them with regulatory guidance. Mr Ian Johnston, the chief executive of the DFSA, and Mr Ashley Alder, the chief executive of the SFC, signed the agreement in Hong Kong.

Both regulators are signatories to the IOSCO (International Organisation of Securities Commissions) Multi-lateral Memorandum of Understanding (MMoU). They also signed an MoU with each other in 2008.

The DFSA introducted regulations that "formalised a tailored regime for loan and investment crowdfunding platforms" on the first of this month, thereby blazing a trail for the rest of the states that belong to the Gulf Co-operation Council. On 24 May, the DFSA also started handing out Innovation Testing Licences (ITLs), a means of allowing FinTech to develop their wares relatively unencumbered by normal rules. It has also come up with its own 'FinTech Hive.'

For its part, the SFC established the FinTech Contact Point (FTCP) in March last year to help businesses involved in the development and application of FinTech and regulatory technology in Hong Kong talk to each other, learn the regulatory rules keep informed about developments in the local industry.