Fintech 2026

BELGIUM Law and Practice Contributed by: Joan Carette, Philippe De Prez and Thomas Derval, Simont Braun

2.5 Regulatory Sandbox In Belgium, there is no regulatory sandbox. Howev - er, the NBB and the Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) have set up a joint and unique Fin - tech Contact Point, allowing fintech entrepreneurs to contact them directly and openly discuss the regulato - ry aspects of their products or services. According to the Belgian regulators, this approach should be seen as a “soundbox” (ie, a possibility to speak with the regulator outside any concrete licence application), rather than an actual sandbox. In general, Belgian reg - ulators have a strict but pragmatic approach towards fintech companies. They are open to innovation and to organising informal meetings with fintechs to discuss their project prior to launching any formal demands. 2.6 Jurisdiction of Regulators There are two main regulators in Belgium for the finan - cial services sector, which are also relevant for fintech companies. The NBB The NBB is the competent supervisor for the pru - dential requirements applicable to credit institutions (CIs), insurance undertakings, e-money institutions (EMIs), payment institutions (PIs) and large stockbrok - ing companies. Under the law of 11 December 2025 implementing the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regula - tion (MiCA), the NBB acts as the competent authority for crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) that are already prudentially supervised entities (including Bel - gian payment and e-money institutions). The FSMA The FSMA is the competent supervisor for the pru - dential regime applicable to smaller investment companies, regulated credit providers, insurance intermediaries, crowdfunding platforms and financial intermediaries. It also oversees the conduct-of-busi - ness rules on insurance and investment services (in addition to having more general authority over public offers, listed companies and the financial markets). The FSMA analyses local initiatives to ensure that they do not fall within existing regulations under its supervi - sion, such as public offerings or investment services. It also supervises crypto-wallet and exchange service providers, following the Belgian transposition of EU

Directive 2018/843 of 30 May 2018 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing (AMLD5). Its role has been further clarified under the Law of 11 December 2025 implementing MiCA, which des - ignated the FSMA as the competent authority for the supervision of CASPs that are not otherwise super - vised entities, and for the supervision and enforce - ment of conduct-of-business provisions in respect of all CASPs, including those falling under the NBB’s competence. The FPS Economy Next to these two main supervisors, the Federal Pub - lic Service Economy (FPS Economy) has very specific powers regarding the conduct-of-business rules of regulated credit and payment services. 2.7 No-Action Letters Belgian regulators do not issue no-action letters; how - ever, as outlined in 2.5 Regulatory Sandbox , a desig - nated contact point enables fintech entrepreneurs to engage directly with the regulators and discuss the regulatory implications of their products or services. In that context, fintechs can receive unofficial feedback from the regulator which, even if not binding, provides a certain level of comfort. 2.8 Outsourcing of Regulated Functions Regulated functions can only be outsourced to par - ties that are regulated for these functions. Financial institutions may outsource unregulated, more opera - tional functions to third parties, but only under certain conditions. For CIs, investment firms, PIs and EMIs, the NBB has entirely integrated the European Banking Authority (EBA) guidelines on outsourcing into its supervisory practice. Under these guidelines, regulated entities are required to: • perform a substantive risk assessment before deciding to outsource; • conduct thorough due diligence on the potential partner and the services before selecting the out - sourced partner; • remain liable towards their own clients, irrespective of the outsourcing arrangement;

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