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Overview

International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) is a unified regulatory authority vested with the powers of all four financial sector regulators in India namely, the RBI, SEBI, IRDAI and PFRDA for the purpose of enabling regulatory framework towards the development of International Financial Services Centres (IFSCs) in India. The aim of IFSCA is to provide an efficient and facilitative regulatory system comparable with the best in the world that is complemented with complete ease of doing business to develop IFSCs as a preferred global hub for international financial services.

Globally, FinTech hubs have been successful when FinTechs are able to collaborate with Financial Institutions (Banks, Insurance Companies, Stock Exchanges, Funds, etc.) and Regulators. Government and government agencies around the world have supported various types of initiatives to enable and augment such collaboration and have fostered ecosystems for the FinTechs.

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In the Union Budget 2021, the Hon’ble Finance Minister announced that Government of India would be supporting a world class FinTech hub at GIFT IFSC. In line with this mandate, IFSCA has planned to hold a FinTech thought leadership event “InFinity Forum” as an annual feature beginning 2021.

A series of Hackathons (“I-Sprint’21” Series) are also being planned as a prelude to “InFinity Forum’. Sprint01: BankTech, and Sprint03: Insure-Tech focused on the "Banking” sector and “Insurance Sector” have been launched. We are now launching ‘Sprint04 : Market-Tech’ focusing on Capital Markets and shall be hosted by IFSCA and GIFT City in collaboration with NSE. The plan is to provide the winners an entry into the “Regulatory Sandbox” of IFSCA and subsequently result into successful business. The partner companies are expected to collaborate with the winning FinTechs in the regulatory sandbox to usher in a business environment that can validate the commercial viability of the product/service as required by the industry, there-by adding value to all the stakeholders in the ecosystem.

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Important Dates

Launch Date

4th December 2021

Information Session for Participants

17th December 2021

Last Date of Application

31st January 2022

Start Sprinting

Hackathon Details

Entities/Individuals satisfying any of the following eligibility criteria may apply to Sprint’04-Market-Tech. A. The Hackathon IS open to:

  • All entities registered with Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India (IRDAI) and Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) OR
  • All start-ups registered with Start-up India and meeting the criteria of a start-up as defined in the Gazette notification of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade dated February 19, 2019 or later versions OR
  • Companies incorporated and registered in India OR
  • International Entities / Companies incorporated and regulated in Financial Action Task Force (FATF) compliant jurisdictions by a financial services or banking or capital market or insurance or pensions regulator OR
  • Individuals who are citizens of India OR
  • Individuals from FATF compliant jurisdiction
    • B. The Hackathon IS NOT open to:
  • The Host /Sponsor/Partners to the Event(“Promotion Entities”).
  • Employees, representatives and agents** of such Promotion Entities, and all members of their immediate family or household*
  • Any parent company, subsidiary, or other affiliate*** of such Promotion Entities
  • Any other individual or organization whose participation in the Hackathon would create, in the sole discretion of the Organizer, a real or apparent conflict of interest

*The members of an individual’s immediate family include the individual’s spouse, children and stepchildren, parents and stepparents, and siblings and stepsiblings. The members of an individual’s household include any other person that shares the same residence as the individual for at least three (3) months out of the year.

**Agents include individuals or organizations that in creating a Submission to the Hackathon, are acting on behalf of, and at the direction of, a Promotion Entity through a contractual or similar relationship.

***An affiliate is: (a) an organization that is under common control, sharing a common majority or controlling owner, or common management; or (b) an organization that has a substantial ownership in, or is substantially owned by the other organization.

1.0 Retail Capital Market Products at IFSC: 
  • With a view to promote retail capital market products at IFSC it is proposed to invite solutions for developing:
    • Products for retail customers focusing on NRIs/PIOs/OCIs to activate flows at GIFT IFSC.
    • Products for retail Indian citizens focusing on Liberalized Remittance Scheme (LRS) flows.
    • Products for retail investors from FATF compliant jurisdictions.
  • The products/solution proposed should be complaint with all applicable laws (including FATF compliance), reporting requirements, adopt to international best practices and ease of doing business practices.
  • The solution to focus on all aspects including KYC norms, ease of remittances, payments, LRS limits and investments in Foreign Currency (FCY).
  • These products may be transferable from one party to another through a buy/sell trade on either the stock exchange or an alternate trading platform.
    • 2.0 Sustainable finance products at GIFT-IFSC:
  • The objective would be to encourage participation of banks, institutional investors, and retail investors in green finance products. Products and services around green finance can be built at GIFT-IFSC such as green/sustainability bonds, sustainability-linked bonds, voluntary carbon credit markets, ESG ratings/scores for companies, and solutions to encourage bond issuances for SMEs.
  • The solutions may take the help of any suitable technology - software or hardware, to bring the required use case to life. For example, an AI Robo-advisor could be created for providing ESG scores to companies based on reporting data, drones to capture climate-related impact of a project, distributed ledger technology to provide transparency into green finance instruments, a retail consumer app to inform retail customers of climate impact due to their e-commerce purchases or investments.
  • The proposed solutions can integrate with other platforms such as KYC platforms, ESG ratings/scores platforms, trade financing platforms, remittance systems, and even IoT sensors to quantify impact. The solutions can also explore the creation of innovative green finance products for capital markets - automating accurate sustainability reporting, incentivizing issuance of green debt instruments by SMEs, or increasing liquidity of green debt instruments in secondary markets through innovative products.
  • The solutions can address any sector related to green activity– energy, water consumption, waste management, biodiversity conservation. It can address any of the issues mentioned in UN SDGs which can be solved through innovative capital markets technology within the regulatory framework set out at GIFT-IFSC.
  • The products/solutions proposed should be compliant with all applicable laws (including FATF compliance), reporting requirements, adopt to international best practices and ease of doing business practices
    • 3.0 Tokenisation of physical assets
  • A solution based on Distributed Ledger Technology for tokenization and fractional ownership of physical assets. The tokens will be created traded, cleared and settled on a DLT platform that will be housed either on the stock exchanges in IFSC or on alternate trading platforms. The trading platform should ensure full transparency on price discovery, the depth of the “order book” and order matching algorithm. P2P transfer of tokens shall be permitted.
  • The DLT based solution should have the requisite KYC/AML checks and balances, as prescribed by IFSCA, in place. The tokens issued on the DLT may conform to internationally accepted and recognized standards such as ERC-20, ERC-721, etc.
  • The tokens issues should be traceable in the event the wallet holder loses his/her private key.
  • There should also be scope for third party entities to act as digital custodians.
  • The settlement of the tokens traded should be T+0 or near instantaneous.
    • 4.0 Web 3.0 for Capital Markets
  • Innovative Solutions on Web 3.0 focusing on capital markets.
  • Solutions that enter the regulatory sandbox must be amenable to a regulatory fabric layer interacting with a solution.
  • Robust cybersecurity posture is a must for this solution.
    • 5.0 Decentralized Exchange/platform for trading unlisted bonds
  • Majority of the bonds issued worldwide are traded Over-The-Counter (OTC). Such OTC transactions are inefficient as the trader does not always get the best price.
  • An innovative solution in the form of a decentralized exchange/trading platform may be designed for unlisted bonds issued in India or overseas. Such an exchange/trading platform should facilitate instantaneous transactions in such bonds.
  • The solution shall adhere to the KYC/AML norms as prescribed by IFSCA and all applicable laws (including FATF Compliance), reporting requirements, adopt to international best practices and ease of doing business practices
  • Register for the Hackathon by clicking the “Start Sprinting” button on the webpage.
  • Applicants will be directed to a ‘Hackathon Platform’ wherein a detailed application form needs to be filled and submitted.
  • Complete and enter all of the required fields (including uploading details like product presentation, product video, etc.)
  • The detailed guidelines on the application form are provided on the ‘Hackathon Platform’.
  • Application can be submitted once. Modification is not allowed after submission.
  • The applicant may apply by registering on the ‘Hackathon Platform’. On successful registration, the applicant may then login and complete the application form. Each applicant will further submit the following along with the application form. Details about them are provided in the application form.
    • Presentation Pitch (Not more than 15 slides)
    • 3-minute Video
  • Direct-Entry into IFSCA Regulatory/Innovation Sandbox. After successful exit from the Sandbox, the FinTechs gets an opportunity to set up businesses at GIFT IFSC.
  • Regulatory guidance and handholding.
  • Opportunity to get access to API, mentoring and guidance from Partner Companies.
  • Opportunity to avail various Incentives (Upto INR 5 Million per FinTech) during the sandbox experimentation stage; subject to IFSCA’s terms and conditions.
  • Prize-Money of INR 20 lacs (maximum 5 winners) sponsored by NSE.
Steps Description
Screening 1st round evaluation The applications will be screened for relevance to the problem statement and the stage of the product/solution.
Evaluation 2nd round evaluation The screened applications will be subjected to detailed evaluation basis technology / business model / scalability / and (demo) by the Industry Partners.
3rd round evaluation The evaluated applicants will be required to present/pitch before the Jury.
Mentoring The selected FinTechs will undergo a 2-week mentoring to fine-tune solutions as per bank's requirements.
4th round evaluation The selected FinTechs will give a final presentation / pitch to the Jury.
Application Stage
Proposed Dates
Launch Date
4th December 2021
Information Session for Participants
17th December 2021
Last date for Application
31st January 2022
Jury Round
To Be Announced

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