Politics, Legal & Regulation

August 22, 2021 @ 10:29 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Philippines, recently confirmed  that it will no longer be accepting applications for new virtual banks including firms seeking to  convert their current status, starting from September 1, 2021. Virtual banking applications sent to the nation’s… Read More

August 20, 2021 @ 2:57 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

The Canadian government has released its report into open banking. Final Report: Advisory Committee on Open Banking is available here. The vision for a Canadian system should be governed by six outcomes: consumer data is protected; consumers are in control of their data; consumers receive… Read More

August 20, 2021 @ 12:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Compliance in financial services will be drastically improved by leveraging innovative technology-based assessments which draw on regulatory data from around 180 jurisdictions, as part of a collaboration between Big Four auditing firm PwC and Regtech CUBE. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Switzerland, PwC UK and London‘s CUBE will… Read More

August 19, 2021 @ 3:35 pm By JD Alois  |  

Commissioner Brian D. Quintenz, long a voice in support of responsible Fintech innovation at the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), has issued a statement regarding his forthcoming exit from the regulator. Quintenz’s term expired in April of 2020 but said he would not seek another… Read More

August 19, 2021 @ 11:07 am By JD Alois  |  

Congressman Tom Emmer has reintroduced the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act along with Congressman Darren Soto. The legislation aims to address Financial Action Task Force (FATF) proposed guidance that could stifle blockchain innovation in the United States and elsewhere. FATF has advocated for stricter regulation of… Read More

August 18, 2021 @ 4:16 pm By JD Alois  |  

The UK Financial Conduct Authority has sent a “Dear CEO” letter to the management of the UK investment crowdfunding platforms. Signed by Debbie Gupta, Director of Consumer Investments Supervision, the missive cautions platforms on ensuring that investors fully understand the nature of the risk affiliated… Read More

August 18, 2021 @ 3:35 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed an emergency action and obtained a temporary restraining order, an asset freeze, and the appointment of a receiver to stop an alleged Ponzi scheme and misappropriation of investor proceeds perpetrated by Coral Springs, Florida resident Johanna M…. Read More

August 16, 2021 @ 4:21 pm By JD Alois  |  

US House of Representative Patrick McHenry and Representative Glenn Thompson have sent a letter to both the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) telling them to form a working group on digital assets. The letter arrives at a time when… Read More

August 16, 2021 @ 12:08 pm By JD Alois  |  

PeerIQ, a top online lending data and analytics operation, has been selected along with several other firms to submit proposals to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) aiming to boost the utilization of modern technology tools. PeerIQ is joined by Palantir Technologies, S&P Global Market… Read More

August 16, 2021 @ 11:48 am By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged HempAmericana its CEO, and six others with allegations of a penny stock fraud scheme. The SEC also charged certain of the participants with operating as unregistered dealers, and has obtained emergency relief to halt ongoing conduct. HempAmericana… Read More

August 14, 2021 @ 4:22 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) recently revealed that eight teams have been chosen to take part in a “tech sprint” designed “to explore new technologies and techniques” to assist banking institutions with meeting the requirements of unbanked consumers. The FDIC’s technology lab, FDITECH, introduced… Read More

August 14, 2021 @ 4:10 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Sheila Warren, Deputy Head of the C4IR; Member of the Executive Committee, World Economic Forum,  and Sumedha Deshmukh Platform Curator, Blockchain and Digital Currency, World Economic Forum, recently published their views on why effective cryptocurrency regulations will take time to develop. As noted (on August… Read More

August 13, 2021 @ 3:25 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

TaxBit has raised $130 million in capital through a Series B round at a $1.33 billion valuation in order to “disrupt” legacy tax information reporting. Michell O’Conner, VP of Marketing at TaxBit, says her team is pleased to finalize the massive round that was led… Read More

August 12, 2021 @ 10:59 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Crypto is “changing,” and BitMEX is “changing with it” according to Alexander Höptner, the CEO at the Bitcoin Mercantile Exchange. In a blog post dated August 10, 2021, the team at BitMEX revealed that they’ve reached a “resolution” with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission… Read More

August 12, 2021 @ 10:30 am By JD Alois  |  

The enforcement drums are pounding at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) when it comes to digital assets. At the top of the list are trading platforms that may be skirting established securities laws, especially when the Commission believes they are enabling the buying and… Read More

August 11, 2021 @ 2:20 pm By Priyanka Pani  |  

The UK government plans to create a digital identity trust framework using modern technology to make verification faster and easier for its citizens. The government had first published the trust framework in February this year.  The UK government has created the framework by conducting extensive online surveys,… Read More

August 11, 2021 @ 11:07 am By JD Alois  |  

In a recent round of correspondences launched by Senator Elizabeth Warren, a noted crypto skeptic, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler responded with a request for additional authority to regulate digital asset exchanges. Gensler said that legislative priority should center on crypto trading, lending and DeFi platforms…. Read More

August 10, 2021 @ 10:15 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Juniper Research recently published a whitepaper titled, “Cash is No Longer King: How Contactless Payments are Becoming the Norm.” The paper from Juniper Research notes that bricks-and-mortar retailers are now “under pressure” to provide increasingly “frictionless” shopping experiences. Consumers have started expecting quick, secured, and… Read More

August 10, 2021 @ 10:13 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this week announced an emergency action charging nine people, including a public company chairman, for their participation in long-running fraudulent schemes that collectively generated hundreds of millions of dollars from unlawful stock sales and caused significant harm to retail… Read More

August 10, 2021 @ 5:02 pm By JD Alois  |  

Earlier today the US Senate voted on a massive bill that, while labeled infrastructure, included a cornucopia of pet projects and unrelated policy goals. Squirreled away in the legislation was language designed to raise revenue by taxing crypto transactions as well as broadly defining the… Read More