Politics, Legal & Regulation

Policy and regulations impacting innovations in Finance.

Digital Assets focused Custodia Bank Aims to Fight for US Federal Reserve Master Account

Wyoming-based digital asset bank Custodia will continue its efforts to obtain access to a Federal Reserve master account. Wyoming is a digital asset-friendly jurisdiction. A Federal Reserve master account is an account in which a Reserve Bank allows banks or credit unions to use the… Read More

House Financial Services Committee Schedules Hearing on SEC’s Troublesome Climate Disclosure Rule

The House Financial Services Committee has scheduled a hearing on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) recent rule change that requires public firms to disclose climate impact. The new ESG-type rules have been controversial at best, with some lambasting the Commission as becoming the Securities… Read More

Digital Securities Draft Guidance Revealed by UK FCA, Bank of England: Digital Securities Sandbox Nears

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While everyone understands that securities will inevitably become digital, policymakers have been slow to provide an ecosystem to support the nuances intrinsic to the transition from analog. Eventually, digital securities will become the dominant sector of digital assets, and clear-cut rules are needed. Today, the… Read More

National Securities Commission in Argentina Introduces Registry of Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs)

The South American country of Argentina has announced key updates related to digital assets. Argentina’s National Securities Commission (CNV)  has implemented the Registry of Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs). The LatAm based nation has some of the highest levels of crypto adoption globally so this… Read More

SEC Posts Final Judgement Pertaining to GA Investors and Fraud that Involved Crypto

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has published the final judgment regarding GA Investors, which is said to have operated dozens of fraudulent websites, including GA-Investors.org. The final judgment was entered by default and includes a demand for GA Investors to pay more than $1.1… Read More

Investment Crowdfunding : Companies That Raised Money Using Reg CF Are Not Filing their Form C-AR

Reg CF or Regulation Crowdfunding is a securities exemption that allows a company to raise up to $5 million from both Accredited and Non-Accredited investors. To pursue a Reg CF offering, a company must file documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The documents… Read More

Monetary Authority of Singapore Launches COSMIC Platform to Combat Money Laundering

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has launched COSMIC, the first centralized digital platform to facilitate sharing of customer information among financial institutions (FIs) to combat money laundering (ML), terrorism financing (TF) and proliferation financing (PF) globally. The Financial Services and Markets (Amendment) Act 2023… Read More

SEC Posts Final Judgment on Coinspark, FLiK ICOs

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has posted that it has obtained a final judgment against defendants Ryan Felton, FLiK, and CoinSpark. The SEC had previously charged the defendants in 2020 for two initial coin offerings (ICOs) that were deemed to be fraudulent. Felton, FLiK,… Read More

US Judge Says Federal Reserve Does Not Have to Provide Custodia Bank with Master Account

According to a ruling by a judge this past Friday (March 29, 2024), the US Federal Reserve will not be required to provide Wyoming-based digital asset bank Custodia access to a master account. Federal Reserve Banks are able to determine if they should issue master… Read More

Bank of England and FCA to Lead Transformation Program with Improved Data Collection from UK Financial Sector

The Bank of England and FCA are leading a joint transformation program with industry to transform data collection from the UK financial sector. They published a future strategy for “achieving this, encompassing the regulator’s response to industry’s recommendations.” The Bank of England and the Financial… Read More

MAS Extends Suspension of Remittances to China via Channels Not Specifically Permitted

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) recently issued a Notice to extend, for a further six months until 30 September 2024, the suspension of the use of channels that are not specifically permitted (non-specified channels by remittance companies “when transmitting money to persons in the… Read More

CFTC Commissioner Caroline Pham Claims Regulatory Agency Could Be Infringing on the SEC’s Authority in KuCoin Case

Caroline Pham from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has been critical of the actions of her own regulatory agency, noting that the CFTC could be interfering on its partner agency in the recent charges it made against digital currency exchange KuCoin this past week…. Read More

European Digital Identity (eID): Council Adopts Legal Framework on an Online Wallet for Europeans

To ensure a “trusted” and secure digital identity for all Europeans, the European Council adopted a new framework for a European digital identity (eID). Mathieu Michel, Belgian Secretary of State for digitization, administrative simplification, privacy protection and the building regulation: The adoption of the European… Read More

Binance Joins Global Travel Rule Alliance to Enhance Interoperable Compliance and Security

Making crypto compliant with existing regulatory frameworks and interoperable with traditional legal and financial systems is “an enormous yet hugely worthwhile task,” according to Binance, which remans the world’s largest crypto exchange in terms of trading volume and overall scope of operations. This, despite having… Read More

The SEC is Looking for People to Join its Investor Advisory Committee (IAC)

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is looking for new members to add to its Investor Advisory Committee (IAC). Currently, they have five openinings on the Committee that aims to provide guidance to the Commission on items that impact individual investors. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street… Read More

France: AMF Issues Updated Warning Against Firms Offering Potentially Fraudulent Investments Without Authorization

The AMF is warning the public against several companies proposing “atypical” investments without being authorized to do so The Autorité des Marchés Financiers regularly updates its black lists of new websites and entities “proposing atypical investments to investors in France without being authorized to do… Read More

Private International Law Issues Relating to Digital Tokens Examined in Extensive Research Study

The new HCCH Project focused on an extensive study of digital tokens. After the conclusion and decision at its 2024 meeting by the governing body of the HCCH, the Council on General Affairs and Policy (CGAP), the Permanent Bureau has recently begun its work that… Read More

Terraform Labs Loses Mistrial Bid, US Civil Trial Begins

Manhattan US District Court Judge Jed S. Rakoff has given a major blow to Terraform Labs and its founder Do Kwon. Recently, Judge Rakoff dismissed a mistrial bid that was reportedly related to disclosures regarding the Terraform’s alleged deception. The notable decision was announced during… Read More

National Association of Industrial Bankers, American Financial Services Association and American Fintech Council sue State of Colorado over interest rate law

The National Association of Industrial Bankers (NAIB), the American Financial Services Association (AFSA) and the American Fintech Council (AFC) filed a lawsuit in federal court this week, challenging a new Colorado statute they claim violates federal law by imposing interest-rate and fee caps on loans… Read More

UK’s HM Treasury May Update AML and CFT Framework, New Rules Could Apply to NFTs

The UK’s HM Treasury is reportedly considering or looking into possibly making changes to its existing Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (AMLCFT) framework. This may potentially mean that service providers of non-fungible token (NFT) trading platforms could get added within the applicable regulatory framework. At… Read More

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