3 The Financial Conduct Authority has opened its regulatory sandbox for applications throughout the year. It was previously operated on a cohort basis and firms could only apply during specific dates in the year. The regulatory sandbox provides firms with access to regulatory expertise and a set of tools to facilitate pre-launch testing. Firms could test products and services in a controlled environment while reducing time-to-market at potentially lower cost. It supports in identifying appropriate consumer protection safeguards to build into new products and services and better access to finance. The FCA said: “While the cohort approach was appropriate for a testing environment, which served as a blueprint for regulators all over the world, the sandbox required changes to reflect its maturity and the lessons learned since its inception in 2016.