Shri Joseph Joshy, Chief General Manager, IFSCA, represented the Authority at the
@WTO Public Policy Forum 2026, held during 15-17 September 2026 in Geneva, Switzerland, under the theme “Powering the Future”, which focused on the role of trade in services in promoting global economic growth and development.
Shri Joseph Joshy participated as a panellist in the panel titled “Sandboxes, Special Zones, etc.: Testing Tomorrow’s Rules”, which examined how regulatory sandboxes, special economic zones and other experimental regulatory frameworks can facilitate regulatory innovation, support evidence-based policymaking and contribute to improved regulatory outcomes in services trade.
During the panel discussion, Shri Joseph Joshy highlighted the vision and strategic role of GIFT IFSC in positioning India as an international financial services hub and its contribution to the country’s broader growth and development. He underscored the scale of this growth, with 1,336 registrations/authorisations granted by IFSCA as of June 2026, alongside USD 39+ billion in fund commitments, USD 120.69 billion in banking assets, USD 111 billion in monthly capital market turnover, and USD 610 million in reinsurance premiums, reflecting the rapidly expanding international financial ecosystem at GIFT IFSC.
He also highlighted the role of the IFSCA Sandbox framework in creating an enabling and controlled environment for testing innovative financial products, services and technologies, while fostering meaningful engagement between innovators and the regulator. He mentioned that the learnings from the Sandbox have helped enable new business areas within GIFT IFSC, including TechFin Services Providers, Payment Services Providers (PSPs), and the International Trade Finance Services (ITFS) platform.
The impact of these initiatives is reflected in 500+ employment opportunities generated by TechFins, USD 47.14 million in transaction value facilitated by PSPs, and USD 126.92 million in transaction value facilitated through the ITFS platform.
While discussing the importance of effective regulatory coordination in facilitating innovation, he highlighted the key features of the Inter-operable Regulatory Sandbox (IoRS) mechanism, which enables coordination among the four domestic financial sector regulators, RBI, SEBI, IRDAI and PFRDA, along with IFSCA, to facilitate the testing of innovative hybrid financial products and services that fall within the regulatory ambit of more than one financial sector regulator.
He further emphasised the importance of regulatory experimentation, technology-driven innovation and collaboration between regulators and market participants in developing responsive regulatory frameworks capable of keeping pace with emerging financial technologies and evolving models of international trade in services.