Pub. 11 2021 Issue 2

18 www.azbankers.org restrict the council member or the fintech from fully participating in the initial introductory presentation. The subject matter experts from the participating FIs will view the presentations and fill out a standard evaluation form with their impressions. They may also make suggestions and recommendations for a successful sandbox POC and entry into the regulated market. The Council will collect the evaluation forms and provide the fintech applicants with a copy. If the consensus view of the Council is that the fintech company has a concept, solution or service that supports the financial services sector, and there are one or more member FIs interested in partnering with the fintech in a POC, the Council will forward an evaluation summary with a cover letter expressing that view to the Attorney General’s Fintech Sandbox staff. The Council will facilitate contact between members of the Council and the fintech companies following each Council meeting to the degree requested and welcomed by all parties — and warranted by the potential success of a POC. If a councilmember is interested in partnering with one or more of the fintech presenters, that member will have 30 days to notify CCG of that interest. The parties then will negotiate in good faith a standard POC agreement that will have the terms of the POC — and all related terms to protect all parties, including the intellectual property of the fintech. Eligibility for Participation and Membership Fees The goal is to have a Council with approximately 30 people viewing the presentations of the Arizona Fintech Sandbox applicants at any given meeting. They will come from regulated U.S. FIs and stakeholder public policy groups from inside and outside of Arizona. To Participate as a Financial Institution (FI) The goal here is to have a diverse membership from an institution-size perspective. Most industry experts break the U.S. financial services sector into three groups based on asset size: the large “money-center” banks with assets over $1 trillion; the regionals and super-regionals with assets between $10 billion and $1 trillion; and the community banks, Community Development Financial Institutions, and credit unions with assets below $10 billion. The Arizona Bankers Association has member banks in all three categories. In the initial phase of the Council’s operation, we will endeavor to have representatives from institutions in all three size categories participate. We will not charge a participation fee for AzBA- member banks in the first year. We will, however, analyze the wisdom and necessity of assessing member banks a participation fee in subsequent years. That fee, however, will be substantially lower than the fee for non-member financial institutions, which will be $10,000 for the first year. To Participate as a Fintech Company/AZ Sandbox Applicant Fintech companies seeking to present their concept and make connections with members of the Council must have an application pending or a demonstrated intention to submit an application to the Arizona Fintech Sandbox. There will be a nominal “presentation fee” of $1,500 to present to the Council. That presentation fee will not include any fees that the State of Arizona may charge the fintech to participate in the Arizona Fintech Sandbox. The fee will, however, entitle the fintech company to one annual associate membership in the AzBA, which includes access to the annual convention (not including the convention fee and lodging costs). To Participate as a Stakeholder Group Stakeholder groups wishing to participate must have an obvious “stake” in a successful Arizona Fintech Sandbox program. As mentioned, these organizations include, among others, the state’s economic development corporations such as the Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC), the Sun Corridor, Inc., the Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA), the Arizona Technology Council, and the state’s largest chambers of commerce (the Phoenix Chamber, the Arizona Chamber, and the Tucson Chamber). Eligible stakeholder groups can also include high-tech university incubators such as the University of Arizona’s Center for Innovation and Arizona State University’s SkySong. They can also include state and local government officials such as city economic development personnel, state legislators, and senior members of the governor’s staff. These participants must be invited to participate, and the participation fee will be $500 per meeting, per person attending. w Continued from page 17