Politics, Legal & Regulation

April 26, 2022 @ 8:11 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Federal Court in Australia has reportedly ordered Westpac to pay penalties in the amount of $113 million “for widespread compliance failures across multiple businesses, including Westpac’s banking, superannuation, wealth management and insurance brands.” Justice Beach recently handed down his decision “in the last of… Read More

April 26, 2022 @ 8:08 pm By JD Alois  |  

As was noted last week, this past January the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed amendments to the Exchange Act and the definition of an Exchange as well as Regulation ATS (Alternative Trading System). While described in relatively benign terms, the language of the proposed… Read More

April 25, 2022 @ 7:37 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has announced 7 firms that will participate in its Fintech sandbox called TestLab. The OSC TestLab is a dedicated testing environment for firms to try out new approaches to regulation aimed at reducing burden, promoting economic growth, and fostering capital… Read More

April 25, 2022 @ 11:54 am By JD Alois  |  

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) says it will “examine” nonbank firms that “pose risks to consumers.” The CFPB states that it is “invoking a largely unused legal provision” to pursue these investigations. While the Bureau states that it will examine these firms it has… Read More

April 25, 2022 @ 12:42 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Every banking platform has an “important” duty to combat financial crime, and N26 claims that it is “no different.” As a fully-regulated bank, this is “not just a responsibility, but a legal requirement for [them] to do so,” the N26 team noted in a blog… Read More

April 24, 2022 @ 5:52 pm By JD Alois  |  

This week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Division of Enforcement, requested an extension pertaining to the disgorgement of funds affiliated with Poloniex. To go back in time a bit, Poloniex is one of the few crypto exchanges that the SEC has targeted with an… Read More

April 24, 2022 @ 4:41 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The team at digital assets firm Binance recently noted that they are pleased to announce the appointment of Seth Levy, formerly from Citadel LLC and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), “as Binance’s Head of Market Surveillance.” Seth will be responsible for overseeing efforts “to… Read More

April 23, 2022 @ 5:53 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Tarabut Gateway has reportedly been granted a license by Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) to offer money services in and from Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). DFSA is the independent regulator of financial services in DIFC, which claims to be “the leading global financial center”… Read More

April 22, 2022 @ 11:55 am By JD Alois  |  

Crowdcube has become the first investment crowdfunding platform to be approved under the new European Crowdfunding Service Provider Rules (ECSPR) that went into effect in November of 2021. Crowdcube, a platform that has long operated a subsidiary in Spain, received approval from the Spanish regulator… Read More

April 22, 2022 @ 5:23 am By JD Alois  |  

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published an expected report on challenger banks and financial crime controls which states that some are falling short when it comes to diligence against malfeasance such as money laundering. The review, conducted during 2021, said that some challenger… Read More

April 21, 2022 @ 4:50 pm By JD Alois  |  

  Anchorage Digital Bank, the first-ever charted digital asset bank, has been hit with a consent order from the Office of the Currency of the Comptroller (OCC), the lead federal bank regulator. According to a statement by the OCC, that action was taken due to… Read More

April 21, 2022 @ 9:48 am By JD Alois  |  

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has received a forfeiture order for £2,000,000 regarding erstwhile Fintech QPay Europe Limited, a firm that at one point sought to be regulated by the FCA. The money was initially frozen in “urgent proceedings” initiated by the FCA in… Read More

April 20, 2022 @ 6:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

In late January, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed amendments to the Exchange Act and the definition of an Exchange as well as Regulation ATS (Alternative Trading System). The proposal was opened to comments with a deadline of this week (April 18). The SEC… Read More

April 20, 2022 @ 4:39 pm By JD Alois  |  

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has moved once again to take action against Russian entities as part of the growing sanctions against the rogue nation and its unprovoked war against Ukraine. In the first action of its kind,… Read More

April 19, 2022 @ 3:01 am By Omar Faridi  |  

PeerBerry’s business partner – real estate developer Lithome – successfully “closed the real estate project ‘Aurea Home’ in the center of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania.” The real estate loan of EUR 1 million, “plus an interest rate of EUR 91 647 (total amount of… Read More

April 18, 2022 @ 8:01 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Tech sometimes moves at “a dizzying pace.” When it comes to innovation in financial activities, often referred to as Fintech, the world is “seeing major advances,” according to an update from the IMF. For banks, Fintech “disrupts” core financial services and “pushes them to innovate… Read More

April 18, 2022 @ 5:52 pm By JD Alois  |  

Crowdfund Insider last reported on the growth of FINRA-regulated Funding Portals at the beginning of 2022. A Funding Portal is a new entity created by the JOBS Act of 2021 designed to issue securities under the Reg CF (Regulation Crowdfunding) – a securities exemption created… Read More

April 18, 2022 @ 12:06 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Coinweb, a layer-2 cross-computation platform, recently announced that it has acquired FINTRAC-registered OnRamp Technologies Limited, a payment company with Money Services Business consents (MSB) “providing users the access to fiat rails for projects being built on top of the Coinweb platform within the regulated Canadian… Read More

April 16, 2022 @ 12:10 pm By JD Alois  |  

Congressman Tom Emmer, a member of the House Committee on Financial Services, has distributed a tweet calling the definition of an Accredited Investor “absurd.” The SEC’s accredited investor regulations are absurd. Gatekeeping wealth creation is un-American. Americans are smart enough to make their own financial… Read More

April 15, 2022 @ 4:26 pm By JD Alois  |  

Former Ripple advisor, Michael Barr has been nominated by President Joe Bident to become the Vice-Chair for Supervision of the Federal Reserve. The selection was announced by the White House earlier today. According to the administration, Barr is currently the Joan and Sanford Weill Dean… Read More