Regulatory sandboxes: comparative-legal study on the institution of experimental legal regimes in the Russian Federation and regulatory laboratories in Georgia

Abstract

This article carries out a comparative-legal study of the institution of regulatory sandboxes in the Russian Federation and Georgia. Based on the information acquired upon the request of the National Bank of Georgia, the author examines the normative regulation of regulatory laboratories of Georgia – Decree of the President of the National Bank of Georgia No. 110/04 of May 25, 2020 “On the Approval of Establishment of Regulatory Laboratories by the National Bank of Georgia and their Use", as well as its comparison with the federal law and normative acts that regulate experimental legal regimes in Russia. The application of comparative-legal methods allows determining the similarities and differences in legal regulation and practice of implementation of such institutions in the Russian Federation and Georgia. Description is given to the terminological differences in legislation on legal experiments of the two countries, as well as the differences in the model of legal regulation of the institution of experimental legal regimes: comprehensive regulation by means of the federal law and normative acts in the Russian Federation, and overall regulation solely by the Decree of the President of the National Bank of Georgia. Georgia allows experimental regulation applicable exclusively to financial technologies, while the Russian Federation allows for a broader scope of implementation. This substantiates the differences in the requirements of initiators and authorities that regulate such legal experiments. The conclusion is made on the more successful practice of implementation of legal experiments in the sphere of financial technologies in Georgia, despite the absence of special law or large array of developing legislation.