Politics, Legal & Regulation

January 6, 2022 @ 10:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Bank Negara Malaysia, the nation’s central bank, recently issued the Discussion Paper on Licensing Framework for Digital Insurers and Takaful Operators. As noted by Bank Negara, the Discussion Paper outlines the proposed framework for “licensing new digital insurers and takaful operators (DITOs)” in order to… Read More

January 6, 2022 @ 5:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed charges regarding allegations of a fraudulent initial coin offering (ICO). According to the SEC, Crowd Machine, Inc. and Metavine, Inc., allegedly sold unregistered digital asset securities. The SEC also charged Craig Spoule, an Australian citizen, as orchestrating… Read More

January 3, 2022 @ 10:04 am By Omar Faridi  |  

During a speech delivered earlier this month, Edwin Schooling Latter, Director of Markets and Wholesale Policy and Wholesale Supervision at the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), went over the remaining actions companies must take, as the end of the year, when “the majority of LIBOR… Read More

January 3, 2022 @ 9:39 am By JD Alois  |  

Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed an administrative proceeding in regards to Vincent Petrescu, the founder of the crowdfunding platform TruCrowd. In September of 2021, TruCrowd was hit with fraud charges, in the complaint SEC v. Robert Samuel Shumake, Jr, along with… Read More

December 31, 2021 @ 3:37 pm By JD Alois  |  

CoinSmart Financial Inc., one of the first digital asset trading platforms to be registered as a restricted dealer under securities laws across Canada, has shared some perspective on the Binance Canada predicament. Earlier today, it was reported that Binance Canada had been registered as a… Read More

December 31, 2021 @ 3:15 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Housing markets in Australia began to cool off towards the end of 2021. Updated regulations for banking institutions in the country should “increase the cost of, and reduce the access to financing,” according to an update from Judo Bank. This should see house prices in… Read More

December 31, 2021 @ 12:07 pm By JD Alois  |  

Binance Canada, or Binance Canada Capital Markets, Inc., has been registered as a Money Service Business (MSB), The Calgary-based operation is registered to provide foreign exchange dealing, money transferring, and dealing in “virtual currencies.” The registration is good until December 2024. As shared with CI,… Read More

December 31, 2021 @ 8:54 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has reported that there are just 58 out of 128 reporting jurisdictions advising that they have implemented any of the updated FATF standards, including the “travel rule.” This reportedly aligns with what CipherTrace has found through their extensive work… Read More

December 30, 2021 @ 7:13 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Central Bank of The Bahamas has officially started consultations with banking institutions, credit unions as well as other payment services providers on a strategy to “eliminate all use of domestic cheques by the end of 2024.” According to a release, wider public consultation is… Read More

December 30, 2021 @ 11:07 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Zhikai Chen, Head of Asia Equities at BNP Paribas Asset Management, notes that a number of factors justify their hopes for “a better year after the challenges that 2021 brought to Asian equities, and northern Asian equities in particular.” Chen writes in a blog post… Read More

December 30, 2021 @ 8:52 am By Omar Faridi  |  

On 21 December 2021, a special administration order was reportedly made by the Court in relation to Viola Money “under the Payment and Electronic Money Institution Insolvency Regulations 2021.” The Viola Money website explains its service as follows: Since 2012, we have been providing simple,… Read More

December 29, 2021 @ 5:00 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao or CZ notes that there are many “misconceptions” out there about crypto and that he will address a few of them. For example, many people say that “Regulation is bad for crypto.” According to CZ, we should not hold such a simplistic… Read More

December 29, 2021 @ 10:18 am By JD Alois  |  

In December 2019, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers in France approved its first initial coin offering (ICO). France had previously pushed forward legislation that sought to regulate ICOs under the French Pact Law (or Loi Pacte). The Loi Pacte introduced an optional visa regime for… Read More

December 28, 2021 @ 7:04 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

The American Blockchain PAC is urging American legislators to look to the future and not inhibit the transformative power of blockchain technology through heavy-handed regulation. The organization is an independent, non-profit committee that lobbies federal legislators to support blockchain-based and cryptocurrency-based initiatives.. On Dec. 8,… Read More

December 28, 2021 @ 5:55 pm By JD Alois  |  

If you are a criminal that steals from others, accepts bribes, or generates income from other malfeasant activities (like dealing drugs), you put yourself at risk of state/local and federal law enforcement authorities. But if you don’t get caught you are still on the hook… Read More

December 28, 2021 @ 4:37 am By Omar Faridi  |  

On its face (or at surface level), 2021 may not have seemed like the year cryptocurrency “got serious,” according to an end-of-year update from Mastercard (NYSE: MA). The team at Mastercard noted that this year, we had Elon Musk sending Dogecoin (a virtual currency initially… Read More

December 27, 2021 @ 11:27 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Mr Leong Sing Chiong, Deputy MD at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), noted (during the annual IBF Distinction Evening program) that every year, the financial services industry gathers to “recognize those who have reached the pinnacle of their professions, and those who have contributed significantly… Read More

December 27, 2021 @ 10:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Irving Fisher Committee or IFC report, shared by the BIS, has summarized the results of a survey carried out on sustainable finance statistics among its members. There were 63 answers, offering extensive information for 28 advanced economies (AEs) and 31 emerging market economies (EMEs)…. Read More

December 27, 2021 @ 5:38 pm By JD Alois  |  

  The United States tax system is about as convoluted as it comes. There are federal taxes, state taxes, local taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, etc. Periodically, someone comes along and makes an attempt to simplify the system but entrenched interests, and loopy politicians, make… Read More

December 26, 2021 @ 11:19 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

PIMFA, the trade association for wealth management, investment services and the investment and financial advice industry, welcomes the fact the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has “recognized current levels of Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) funding are unsustainable and is committed to reform. But current… Read More