Fintech Foundation and GFTN Announce Global Index to Benchmark Fintech Regulation

The first-of-its-kind project will benchmark fintech regulatory environments—and help jurisdictions build better ones.

WASHINGTON and SINGAPORE, June 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Fintech Foundation and the Global Finance & Technology Network (GFTN) today announced the Fintech Regulatory Futures Index (FRFI), a new global benchmark designed to assess and compare the regulatory environments that shape fintech markets around the world.

The initiative will bring together regulators, central banks, multilateral institutions, industry leaders, civil society organizations, and academic researchers to develop a transparent, evidence-based methodology for evaluating fintech regulatory frameworks across jurisdictions. 

By combining the resources and network power behind DC Fintech Week, which is organized by the Fintech Foundation, and GFTN's global forums, Singapore Fintech Festival, Point Zero Forum in Zurich, and the 3i Summit in Ghana, the two organizations expect to make an immediate, positive contribution for global standard setters. The FRFI will be housed at the Fintech Foundation and supported by GFTN.

The launch comes as governments are reassessing how to regulate AI-enabled financial services, digital assets, embedded finance, real-time payments, cross-border data flows, and new forms of market infrastructure. As fintech becomes more global, policymakers increasingly need tools that allow them to compare regulatory approaches, identify gaps, and learn from peer jurisdictions.

The index will assess jurisdictions across five dimensions: Regulatory Clarity and Comprehensiveness, Consumer Protection and Market Integrity, Innovation Enablement, Market Access and Economic Opportunity, and Resilience.

Unlike traditional benchmarking exercises, the FRFI will be developed through an open and participatory process. The initiative will publish a draft methodology to crowdsource public comments, invite critique from practitioners and academics, and host online and in person forums where experts across law, economics, technology, development, and market practice examine the index's intended policy impacts, design choices and trade-offs.

"Regulatory benchmarking should not be a black box," said Professor Christopher J. Brummer, Agnes Williams Sesquicentennial Professor of Financial Technology at Georgetown University Law Center and Founder of the Fintech Foundation. "The FRFI is designed to bring methodology into the open—combining legal, economic, technological, and market expertise to build a framework that improves over time."

"As AI adoption accelerates and tokenisation gains acceptance, governance frameworks across the global fintech ecosystem must keep evolving in step," said Sopnendu Mohanty, Group Chief Executive Officer, GFTN and former Chief FinTech Officer at the Monetary Authority of Singapore."

The FRFI is designed to reflect the breadth of the global fintech landscape, including advanced economies, emerging markets, and frontier jurisdictions across Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East, Europe, and North America. 

Media Contact:

Zainab Ahmiano
Fintech Foundation
Email: [email protected]

About the Fintech Foundation

The Fintech Foundation is a Washington, DC headquartered nonprofit organization that supports research, education, and public dialogue on the future of financial technology and regulation. As the sponsor of DC Fintech Week, the Foundation brings together policymakers, regulators, central bankers, entrepreneurs, investors, academics, and civil society leaders from around the world to address emerging issues in digital finance. Its work is grounded in the belief that responsible innovation requires informed public debate, cross-sector collaboration, and regulatory frameworks that promote inclusion, resilience, transparency, and trust. thefintechfoundation.org

About the Global Finance & Technology Network (GFTN)

The Global Finance & Technology Network (GFTN) is a Singapore-headquartered not-for-profit organisation established by the Monetary Authority of Singapore in 2024. With offices in Tokyo, Berlin, and India, GFTN's mission is to bridge policy, capital, and technology to build financial systems that are resilient, efficient, and inclusive. GFTN Services hosts global forums across five continents, bringing together innovators, entrepreneurs, investors, and policymakers from over 130 countries. It offers policy advice to governments to promote financial technology innovation, inclusion, and capacity building. GFTN Capital will be a venture capital firm investing in growth-stage FinTechs globally. For more information, please visit www.gftn.co

SOURCE The Fintech Foundation