Politics, Legal & Regulation

March 31, 2021 @ 11:10 pm By JD Alois  |  

The United Kingdom is looking to regulate the fast emerging stablecoin market before it addresses the broader crypto-asset sector, according to a report by Reuters. Citing John Glen, MP, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, who was speaking at a conference, the report indicated concern about… Read More

March 31, 2021 @ 10:11 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) revealed on March 31, 2021, that Singapore plans to take part in global efforts to improve the overall capacity of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to provide assistance to “vulnerable” low-income nations in “dealing with the economic fallout from… Read More

March 31, 2021 @ 5:34 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued a statement addressing the hot SPAC market. Special purpose acquisitions companies or blank check firms have boomed in recent months. SPACs are viewed as an easier path for issuers to become a publicly-traded firm yet the rapid… Read More

March 31, 2021 @ 3:13 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) has distributed a note criticizing President Joe Biden’s planned tax increase that will hit both individuals and businesses. Addressing  the policy of pushing business taxes higher, the SBE Council says raising taxes during the shaky economy and… Read More

March 31, 2021 @ 1:17 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Open Banking adoption or usage in the US has been increasing due to a significant rise in customer demand and growing pressure or competition. This, according to a recent from the Financial Technology (FT) Partners. As noted in a report titled, Open Banking: Rearchitecting the… Read More

March 30, 2021 @ 11:00 am By Ariel Glasner and Amit Roitman  |  

President Joe Biden’s young administration is poised to deliver heightened – and perhaps unprecedented – regulatory scrutiny of the exploding Fintech industry.  The groundwork for a more active regulatory regime has been set over the course of the past decade.  Prior administrations harnessed existing enforcement… Read More

March 30, 2021 @ 8:33 am By JD Alois  |  

The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has issued a statement that crypto trading platforms must be in compliance with existing securities law or they fact potential regulatory action. This news arrives around the same time the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) and the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization… Read More

March 29, 2021 @ 9:43 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged LBRY with conducting an offering of digital assets deemed to be unregistered securities. LBRY is a blockchain-based company that is working on a digital marketplace, using its native currency LBC, for content such as images, video, audio,… Read More

March 29, 2021 @ 5:07 pm By JD Alois  |  

In a joint statement today, five federal financial regulatory agencies announced a consultation pertaining to the usage of artificial intelligence (AI) as well as machine learning (ML) within financial institutions. The agencies seek information from the public on how financial institutions use AI in their… Read More

March 29, 2021 @ 11:25 am By JD Alois  |  

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) and the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) have jointly published a notice outlining securities law requirements that apply to crypto-asset trading platforms (or CTPs) and how they may be tailored by regulators, according to a public statement. The… Read More

March 28, 2021 @ 10:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

Christin Friedrich is CEO and majority shareholder of Innovestment, an alternative financing platform founded in 2012 that is focused on the long-term sustainable impact for SMEs based in Germany. She is also chairwoman of the board of the European Crowdfunding Network (ECN), the association that… Read More

March 28, 2021 @ 8:25 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the nation’s central bank, announced on Friday (March 26, 2021) that it has started working on a separate set of guidelines for virtual banks which will focus on “regional regulatory trends,” according to a report from local sources. As… Read More

March 27, 2021 @ 5:23 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Local sources in India have commented on why the government may want residents to disclose their digital currency holdings. Industry professionals in the country have pointed out that the Indian corporate affairs ministry could be looking for disclosures from firms in order to get a… Read More

March 27, 2021 @ 9:58 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Digital asset exchange Decoin announced recently that they will support trading GameStop (NYSE:GME) stock using cryptocurrencies. The Decoin team had noted that if you’re still unaware about what’s happening with r/wallstreetbets, then it’s “safe to say that you’ve been living under a rock.” As mentioned… Read More

March 26, 2021 @ 10:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Regulators care “as much about consumer preference in debt collection as creditors,” according to Kelly Knepper-Stephens, Vice President Legal & Compliance at TrueAccord, a Fintech that aims to transform debt collection into “a pathway toward financial health.” Kelly, who’s based in the San Francisco Bay… Read More

March 26, 2021 @ 9:35 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has announced that the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a default judgment against Benjamin Reynolds, of Manchester, England. According to the judgment, Reynolds operated a fraudulent scheme to solicit Bitcoin from members of… Read More

March 26, 2021 @ 9:07 am By JD Alois  |  

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has publicly acknowledged the decision by Crowdcube and Seedrs to abandon the proposed merger of the two venture financing platforms. This past week, the CMA announced it had provisionally decided not to allow the merger to be consecrated…. Read More

March 26, 2021 @ 8:16 am By Omar Faridi  |  

US-based crypto-assets firm Kraken asks when was the last time that a banking institution actually put customer requirements, security and “open access to all” first? David Kinitsky, Kraken Bank CEO, has shared reasons why customers require a “customized” banking structure that “modernizes” the products and… Read More

March 25, 2021 @ 10:47 pm By JD Alois  |  

Several German financial institutions announced a successful step in the direction of enabling digital securities or tokenization of securities. According to a public statement, Deutsche Börse, Deutsche Bundesbank and Germany’s Finance Agency have developed and successfully tested a settlement process for securities. using distributed ledger… Read More

March 25, 2021 @ 9:28 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The team at Optiver, a global tech-focused trading firm that’s dedicated to enhancing the market, says that they realize or are aware that achieving “true resilience” across European equity markets can be a large and “multifaceted” challenge which may not be properly addressed with “a… Read More