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Published Date : 09/06/2025
The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has unveiled a new ‘Supercharged Sandbox’ in collaboration with Nvidia to help financial firms experiment with AI, providing access to advanced computing platforms and regulatory support.
The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has unveiled a new ‘Supercharged Sandbox’ in collaboration with Nvidia to help financial firms experiment with AI, providing access to advanced computing platforms and regulatory support.
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has today revealed details of a new ‘Supercharged Sandbox’ – to be run in partnership with US-headquartered technology company Nvidia – to help firms ‘experiment safely with artificial intelligence (AI) to support innovation.’\n\nNvidia made global headlines one year ago when it became the world’s most valuable company by market capitalisation after its share price climbed to an all-time high. The FCA is a big fan of sandboxes, having launched the world’s first regulatory sandbox (test space) in 2016. It also operates a digital sandbox and is currently bedding in a ‘Digital Securities Sandbox’, which it opened alongside the Bank of England in September 2024.\n\nIn its new sandbox, the financial regulator said that companies ‘will have the opportunity to experiment with AI’ using NVIDIA’s Accelerated Computing platforms and NVIDIA AI Enterprise Software. ‘This Supercharged Sandbox will give firms access to better data, technical expertise and regulatory support to speed up innovation. It is open to any financial services firm looking to innovate and experiment with AI,’ the FCA said in an announcement.\n\n‘This collaboration will help those that want to test AI ideas but who lack the capabilities to do so,’ said FCA chief data, intelligence and information officer Jessica Rusu in the authority’s announcement. ‘We’ll help firms harness AI to benefit our markets and consumers, while supporting economic growth.’\n\n‘AI is fundamentally reshaping the financial sector by automating processes, enhancing data analysis, and improving decision-making, which leads to greater efficiency, accuracy and risk management across a wide range of financial activities,’ said NVIDIA’s Germany-based head of financial technology EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Dr Jochen Papenbrock. ‘The FCA’s Supercharged Sandbox provides firms with a secure environment to explore AI innovations using NVIDIA’s full stack accelerated computing platform, supporting industry-wide growth and efficiency.’\n\nThe sandbox will help firms in the ‘discovery and experiment phase’ with AI, according to the FCA. In its ‘Strategy 2025-2030’, the FCA stated that the FCA’s ‘innovation services have already helped over 200 financial firms test AI and machine learning technology services.’\n\nJust over a couple of years ago, the FCA handed a three-year contract with a value of more than £1m (about $1.26m) to a London-based fintech company called NayaOne to run its digital sandbox as it put the test-space on a permanent footing. In today’s announcement, the FCA described the Supercharged Sandbox as ‘building on the existing Digital Sandbox infrastructure provided by NayaOne, offering advanced compute power to accelerate AI innovation.’\n\nFirms are already able to apply to use Supercharged Sandbox through the FCA’s website and successful applicants will be able to experiment from October this year. In April 2025, the FCA published a proposal for ‘AI live testing’, as part of its existing ‘AI Lab’, to support firms that are ready to use AI. The proposed live testing service would run for 12 to 18 months, with plans to launch in September 2025.\n\nTwelve months previously (April 2024) the FCA published a 26-page ‘AI Update’, which outlined how its existing regulatory frameworks applied to companies’ use of AI.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS):
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS):
Q: What is the FCA's Supercharged Sandbox?
A: The FCA's Supercharged Sandbox is a new regulatory test environment designed to help financial firms experiment with artificial intelligence (AI) using NVIDIA’s advanced computing platforms and software. It provides access to better data, technical expertise, and regulatory support to speed up innovation.
Q: Why is the FCA collaborating with Nvidia?
A: The FCA is collaborating with Nvidia because Nvidia is a leading technology company in AI and accelerated computing. This partnership helps firms lacking the necessary AI capabilities to experiment and innovate safely and effectively.
Q: Who can apply to use the Supercharged Sandbox?
A: The Supercharged Sandbox is open to any financial services firm looking to innovate and experiment with AI. Firms can apply through the FCA’s website, and successful applicants will be able to start experimenting from October of this year.
Q: What are the benefits of the Supercharged Sandbox?
A: The Supercharged Sandbox offers firms access to advanced AI computing platforms, better data, technical expertise, and regulatory support. This helps firms speed up innovation, enhance their AI capabilities, and benefit markets and consumers while supporting economic growth.
Q: What is the FCA's ‘Strategy 2025-2030’ and how does it relate to AI?
A: The FCA's ‘Strategy 2025-2030’ outlines the regulator's plans to embrace technology to become a smarter regulator. It includes initiatives to support AI and machine learning innovation, with the Supercharged Sandbox being one of the key components of this strategy.
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