Politics, Legal & Regulation

July 6, 2021 @ 9:03 am By JD Alois  |  

At the end of last month, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced that Binance Markets Limited was no longer permitted to undertake any regulated activity in the UK. Binance Markets is part of the broader Binance Group – a company that powers the largest… Read More

July 5, 2021 @ 11:46 am By JD Alois  |  

Klarna, a top European Fintech, is under investigation by the Swedish regulator Finansinspektionen for a possible security breach and transgression of the bank secrecy act. In a statement by Finansinspektionen, the financial regulator referenced an “IT incident” that took place in May 2021 where customers… Read More

July 4, 2021 @ 12:28 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Bank Negara Malaysia, the nation’s reserve bank, recently revealed that it received 29 different applications for a virtual bank license under the Financial Services Act 2013 and the Islamic Financial Services Act 2013. This has come after a 6-month application period, which came to an… Read More

July 2, 2021 @ 12:42 pm By JD Alois  |  

Yesterday, the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak outlined his vision for financial services in the UK. The Chancellor highlighted his goal of maintaining, and growing, the UK’s prominence in the finance industry – including the Fintech sector. Topics covered targeting Fintech included distributed ledger… Read More

July 2, 2021 @ 10:32 am By JD Alois  |  

The Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak has outlined his vision for financial services in the 2021 Mansion House speech. Charting the roadmap forward post-Brexit, the Chancellor noted the importance of financial services for the UK economy. Financial services currently employs around 2.3 million people… Read More

July 2, 2021 @ 9:47 am By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand is the next jurisdiction to target the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. According to a posting by the securities regulator, the Thai SEC has filed a criminal complaint against Binance for operating a digital asset business without a license…. Read More

July 2, 2021 @ 12:33 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

In late June, Scotland Yard seized more than $158 million in Bitcoin as part of a money-laundering investigation. London’s Metropolitan Police said that total was more than double the amount of cash seized in all of 2020 and is the biggest crypto take in UK… Read More

July 1, 2021 @ 10:27 am By Omar Faridi  |  

On June 30, 2021, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the US Department of the Treasury that collects and analyzes information about financial transactions in order to combat domestic and international money laundering, terrorist financing, and other financial crimes, issued its first… Read More

July 1, 2021 @ 7:57 am By Omar Faridi  |  

As part of its commitment to compliance, Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange that has been under investigation by US regulators and other international authorities due to allegations of engaging in recognized markets without authorization (and also contributing to money laundering and other illicit activities),… Read More

June 30, 2021 @ 6:53 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Californian Matthew J. Skinner and five of his companies for conducting four unregistered and fraudulent real estate offerings between 2015 and 2020. The companies involved are Empire West Equity Inc., Bayside Equity LP, Longacre Estates LP, Freedom Equity… Read More

June 30, 2021 @ 11:40 am By JD Alois  |  

FINRA has ordered Robinhood to pay a record-breaking $70 million penalty for “systemic supervisory failures and significant harm suffered by millions of customers.” In settling with FINRA, Robinhood neither admitted nor denied the charges, but consented to the entry of FINRA’s findings. FINRA said in… Read More

June 30, 2021 @ 7:55 am By Omar Faridi  |  

China’s Bitcoin mining ban has been moving forward in an aggressive manner, which has led to a rapid decline in hashrate or the amount of computing power required to secure the BTC network. The team at BitOoda notes in a blog post, dated June 29,… Read More

June 29, 2021 @ 2:41 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today announced JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) subsidiary Neovest, Inc. has agreed to pay a $2.75 million fine for failing to register as a broker-dealer in violation of federal securities laws. This is the first time the agency has… Read More

June 29, 2021 @ 9:40 am By Omar Faridi  |  

After the receipt of its provisional banking license back in 2019, Capital International Bank has managed to acquire the full Class 1(2) banking license under the Alternative Banking Regime (ABR) from the Isle of Man’s Financial Services Authority. Obtaining this permit means that the company… Read More

June 28, 2021 @ 4:18 pm By JD Alois  |  

The House Committee on Financial Services has distributed its schedule for the month of July. Included on the schedule are several Fintech-related topics. On July 16, commencing at 12 PM ET, the Artificial Intelligence Task Force will hold a hearing entitled “I Am Who I… Read More

June 28, 2021 @ 11:02 am By JD Alois  |  

In a speech delivered last Friday, Boston Federal Reserve President Eric Rosengren pointed a finger at top stablecoin Tether as a looming risk for the economy. Tether, or USDT, is the leading stablecoin in the crypto-ecosystem. Used by traders to move in and out of… Read More

June 28, 2021 @ 8:27 am By JD Alois  |  

Gibraltar Finance, the business development arm of HM Government of Gibraltar, is partnering with NFT Vision Hack, to encourage creative solutions to the NFT [non-fungible token] sector.  The global hackathon takes place from July 3 to August 30, 2021. Gibraltar has long sought to position… Read More

June 27, 2021 @ 11:54 am By JD Alois  |  

Yesterday, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced that Binance Markets Limited is not permitted to undertake any regulated activity in the UK. Binance Markets is part of the Binance Group. The FCA stated that n other entity in the Binance Group holds any form… Read More

June 27, 2021 @ 11:42 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Digital asset exchange Binance will reportedly stop offering services in Ontario, Canada after the local government decided to launch a regulatory crackdown on crypto-related businesses. Binance’s management confirmed on Friday (June 25, 2021) that all Ontario-based customers need to close out their active positions by… Read More

June 25, 2021 @ 1:22 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Metropolitan Police have seized £114 million in crypto – said to be the largest seizure in the UK and perhaps the largest globally. According to a statement by authorities, the seizure was carried out by detectives from the Met’s Economic Crime Command on the… Read More