Politics, Legal & Regulation

June 17, 2021 @ 10:37 am By JD Alois  |  

In a speech delivered at the Future of Fintech Conference, Tom Mutton – Director responsible for Central Bank Digital Currency at the Bank of England, provided an update on the progress of central bank-issued digital currency. According to Mutton, CBDCs are viewed by the bank… Read More

June 17, 2021 @ 7:26 am By Omar Faridi  |  

On June 7, 2021, the US Department of Justice announced that they had managed to seize 63.69 BTC (valued at around $2.5 million) of the 75 BTC ransom Colonial Pipeline was forced to pay to DarkSide. This ransom recovery is notably the very first undertaken… Read More

June 17, 2021 @ 12:03 am By JD Alois  |  

The ASEAN Financial Innovation Network (AFIN) has partnered with R3 to build and test central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). CBDCs have emerged as a hot topic of governmental innovation – fueled in part by the rise of stablecoins utilized as digital references of fiat currency…. Read More

June 16, 2021 @ 9:19 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

A real estate settlement services company has run afoul of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for not properly acting on security vulnerabilities when first aware of them. On June 15 the SEC said they have settled charges against First American Corporation for disclosure controls… Read More

June 16, 2021 @ 2:54 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

  State-chartered banks in Texas can provide virtual currency custody services if they have the proper safeguards in place, the Texas Department of Banking (TBD) said. Participating banks must have strong risk management protocols while also complying with applicable law An important aspect of the… Read More

June 16, 2021 @ 10:51 am By JD Alois  |  

The House Committee on Financial Services already has two current task forces addressing innovation in financial services. A Task Force on Fintech and a Task Force on Artificial Intelligence. Today, the Committee is adding a “Working Group” addressing Digital Assets. Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman… Read More

June 15, 2021 @ 1:50 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

EBA Clearing and Iberpay revealed on Tuesday (June 15, 2021) that they have introduced two interoperable services to handle messages and offer functionalities that comply with the updated SEPA Request-to-Pay Scheme (SRTP) developed by the European Payments Council (EPC). The introduction of these infrastructure services… Read More

June 15, 2021 @ 3:17 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, the main international standard-setter for the prudential regulation of banks and provides a forum for regular cooperation on banking supervisory matters (with 45 members comprising central banks and bank supervisors from 28 jurisdictions), has initiated a public consultation on… Read More

June 14, 2021 @ 11:16 pm By JD Alois  |  

On June 15th, the House Financial Services Committee, Task Force on Financial Technology (Fintech) will hold a hearing on central bank digital currency (CBDCs). Entitled, Digitizing the Dollar: Investigating the Technological Infrastructure, Privacy, and Financial Inclusion Implications of Central Bank Digital Currencies, the hearing will dive… Read More

June 14, 2021 @ 3:41 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The European Banking Authority (EBA), a regulatory body of the European Union that’s headquartered in Paris, released a report, earlier this week, on the data offered by payment service providers (PSPs) on their readiness to apply strong customer authentication (SCA) for the set of payment… Read More

June 14, 2021 @ 3:37 pm By JD Alois  |  

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has selected Renee Jones as the Director of Corporate Finance and John Coates as General Counsel. Jones is a Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Boston College Law School. Previously, she represented private and public companies on… Read More

June 14, 2021 @ 12:31 pm By JD Alois  |  

Following the revelation of the regulatory agenda for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under the leadership of Chair Gary Gensler, two Commissioners have issued a statement criticizing the list of rules and regulations the Commission is expected to tackle in the coming months. Additionally,… Read More

June 14, 2021 @ 8:27 am By JD Alois  |  

Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a complaint alleging that Edgar M. Radjabli, of Boca Raton, Florida, and for engaging in securities frauds that involved the offering of a digital asset – Apis Tokens. According to the SEC complaint, Radjabli – who… Read More

June 13, 2021 @ 7:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has outlined its regulatory agenda for the coming months and at the top of the list are exempt securities that include Reg D and perhaps other exemptions such as Reg CF and Reg A+. Of note, is that the… Read More

June 12, 2021 @ 9:59 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Zack Voell, a cryptocurrency mining specialist, writes in a blog post published by Compass that Iran has banned Bitcoin mining for four months in the country’s most recent “legal pivot” away from the “begrudged but enduring segment of miners” operating in the country. Voell points… Read More

June 11, 2021 @ 8:00 am By Omar Faridi  |  

VTB Bank (FRA: KYM1) has entered into an agreement with the Federal Tax Service of Russia in order to introduce a service for providing a qualified electronic signature (QES) via a physical medium. The pilot initiative will begin in Moscow and St. Petersburg for the banking… Read More

June 10, 2021 @ 7:32 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the central bank and financial regulatory authority of the city-state, confirmed recently that it will be setting aside $1.8 billion for Climate-related investment initiatives. The MAS, which administers the various statutes pertaining to money, banking, insurance, securities, and the… Read More

June 10, 2021 @ 7:10 am By JD Alois  |  

Last year, the European Union agreed upon pan-European crowdfunding rules designed to harmonize the environment for online securities offerings across all member states. Currently, each member state handles online capital formation in a different manner, regulated by national authorities thus undermining the potential for cross-border… Read More

June 9, 2021 @ 10:56 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced on Tuesday (June 8, 2021) the updated “Fintech 2025” strategy for promoting financial tech development in the Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. Eddie Yue, CEO at HKMA,  has outlined Hong Kong’s new Fintech strategy,… Read More

June 9, 2021 @ 10:54 am By Priyanka Pani  |  

The Bank of England (BoE) has long indicated it is interested in new forms of digital currencies such as Stablecoins and central bank digital currencies. In the past, the Bank has wondered about the impact to monetary policy and possible risk regarding the issuance of… Read More