Rules on how Mexican banks must share data with third parties could be ready as soon as this year.

The country’s securities regulator wants rules on open banking to be among the first pieces of secondary legislation that it publishes – and “well before” the 24-month deadline, the head of policy has told iupana.

“We want this regulation to be also one of the first that are published,” said Carlos Orta, vice-president of regulatory policy at the CNBV. “For this, we are looking at regulations in other countries.”

Mexico’s groundbreaking Fintech Law was passed in March, but much of the operational detail is to be set out through secondary legislation. The CNBV, Mexico’s securities regulator, has six months to determine most of it. But the law allowed 24 months for details on open banking, because there is no precedent for such practices already in the financial system.

The UK government’s Prosperity Fund is working with Mexico on the regulations and sharing best practice examples from the European country, said Orta. The CNBV is also looking at experiences of the Mexican government regarding its open data initiatives, he said.

“We’re looking at best practices at the global level, in the European Union as well as the United Kingdom in particular, as well as what the Mexican government has done,” he said.

The importance of open banking gives urgency to the secondary regulations, said Orta.

“We believe it’s a fundamental pillar of the law. The subject of open data is going to drive competition and drive greater financial inclusion.”

Sandbox use close

Meanwhile, a range of financial institutions are getting ready to make use of the regulatory sandbox said Orta. The sandbox offers easier-than-usual regulations for companies to test new financial services on a limited pool of users.

Banks as well as startups are looking to make use of the sandbox, which has been introduced as part of the Mexico’s Fintech Law.

“Already interest has been shown by various participants, both regulated ones as well as new fintechs. Once the rules for registration and authorization of the regulatory sandbox is ready, I would think we’ll start to see very quickly formal requests to authorize an institution to offer a financial service in an innovative way.”

Carlos Orta, vice-president for regulatory policy at Mexico’s security regulator, discusses Mexico’s fintech law and secondary regulation in detail in this week’s iupana conversa podcast. Listen here, or search for “iupana” in your favorite podcast player