policy brief(forthcoming · target early 2027)
What the UK regulatory sandbox actually did for its digital banks — and what U.S. policy should learn
Institute of FAME — Policy Brief Series
Patrick B. Washington
Translates the Washington/Rehman/Lee 2022 JRFM findings on UK digital-bank performance under the FCA regulatory sandbox into design recommendations for U.S. sandbox proposals. The paper finds sandbox participation associated with a statistically significant decline in bank performance — concentrated in larger, more established firms — and argues that U.S. programs should be scoped narrowly and required to publish structured post-program performance data.