Politics, Legal & Regulation

April 22, 2021 @ 11:30 am By Alonzo Llorens and Olivia Daly  |  

  In an effort to address an issue that has frustrated the business community for years, including startups, tech companies, and “finders,” the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published a proposed conditional exemption for finders on October 7, 2020. Under the proposal, people (i.e.,… Read More

April 22, 2021 @ 9:13 am By JD Alois  |  

UK bank NatWest is saying no to crypto. According to a report, business users that accept crypto, like Bitcoin, may be refused access to the bank’s services. As reported by the Guardian, NatWest BoardMember Morten Friis, who is head of the Risk Committee, explained during… Read More

April 22, 2021 @ 7:56 am By Omar Faridi  |  

While attending a recently-held panel session for this year’s UK Fintech Week , moderator Kristy Duncan, CEO at Women in Payments, acknowledged that the United Kingdom and the European Union could potentially benefit from an updated regulatory framework that supports innovative projects and competition. As… Read More

April 21, 2021 @ 10:51 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has appointed Sacha Sadan to serve as its Director of Environment, Social and Governance (ESG). Ian Alderton has been appointed by the financial regulator as Chief Information Officer while Ian Phoenix will work as Director, Intelligence and Digital. Nikhil… Read More

April 21, 2021 @ 4:23 pm By JD Alois  |  

Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, has announced the reauthorization of the Financial Technology [Fintech] and Artificial Intelligence [AI] Task Forces for the 117th Congress.  These two Task Forces are relatively new having emerged in the 116th Congress in 2019. The… Read More

April 21, 2021 @ 11:36 am By JD Alois  |  

Today, the European Commission proposed new rules and actions as part of an effort to turn the European Union into a global hub for Artificial Intelligence (AI). The “first-ever” legal framework is designed to ensure trust and safety while fostering AI innovation. In a speech… Read More

April 21, 2021 @ 8:54 am By JD Alois  |  

Nikhil Rathi, Chief Executive of the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), delivered a speech yesterday during a presentation at UK Fintech Week. Entitled, Levelling the playing field – Rathi provided perspective on innovation in financial services. He said that in 2019, Fintech revenue rose to… Read More

April 20, 2021 @ 5:41 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Sheng-Wen Cheng with allegations of defrauding investors in the offering of equity and digital asset securities, according to a complaint filed by the regulator. According to the SEC’s complaint, from approximately August 2017 to June 2018, Cheng… Read More

April 20, 2021 @ 2:59 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has settled charges against Jozef Gherman of Florida and J Squared LLC for making misleading statements or omitting material facts in connection with soliciting more than $300,000 from more than 40 individuals to invest in digital assets. According to… Read More

April 20, 2021 @ 11:25 am By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee, has scheduled a meeting for Friday, April 30, 2021, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (ET). This will be a virtual meeting and the event will be open to the public via a… Read More

April 19, 2021 @ 8:58 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Financial regulators in South Korea are reportedly discussing the launch of an updated regulatory framework for overseas remittances made by investors. These traders are allegedly trying to make huge profits by capitalizing on Bitcoin price gaps found on different cryptocurrency exchanges based in Korea and… Read More

April 19, 2021 @ 10:11 am By JD Alois  |  

As UK Fintech week kicks off today, Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer addressed members of the industry outlining proposals designed to “enhance the UK’s competitive advantage in Fintech.”  This includes regulatory support and reforms to help Fintech firms grow. The Chancellor also commented on… Read More

April 19, 2021 @ 9:28 am By JD Alois  |  

The Bank of England and HM Treasury have jointly announced the creation of a task force to explore a central bank digital currency or CBDC. The CBDC will be a digital currency issued by the Bank of England for use by consumers as well as… Read More

April 18, 2021 @ 10:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

China’s Ant Group is looking into potential ways for billionaire Jack Ma to make an exit as Beijing continues to increase its pressure and scrutiny of Fintech businesses in the country, according to a report from Reuters which cited sources familiar with the matter. According… Read More

April 18, 2021 @ 5:51 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

A senior Bank of Japan (BoJ) official has stated that China’s digital renminbi will not be able to pose a threat to the US dollar’s dominant position as the global reserve currency. As reported by Bloomberg, Kazushige Kamiyama, who heads the BoJ’s payment systems division… Read More

April 17, 2021 @ 11:00 am By Omar Faridi  |  

On April 15, 2021, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned 16 individuals and 16 entities for “attempting to undermine and influence the 2020 US presidential election,” blockchain security firm CipherTrace noted in a blog post. CipherTrace also mentioned… Read More

April 16, 2021 @ 7:12 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The American Fintech Council has reportedly expanded to include over 75 members. The Council has also announced several new leadership initiatives, according to a release. As noted in the announcement, the newly formed committees will be including the Regulatory Technology Committee and Legal Advisory Committee… Read More

April 16, 2021 @ 1:51 pm By JD Alois  |  

Earlier today, the official newspaper of Turkey published new regulations issued by the Central Bank of Turkey. According to the new rules, crypto-assets may no longer be used as a form of payments or transfers as of April 30, 2021. According to Reuters, Ahmed Faruk… Read More

April 16, 2021 @ 11:30 am By Howard Marks  |  

On March 11th, Beeple became the third highest-paid living artist with a $69M sale of one of his works as an NFT, a non-fungible token on the blockchain. This sale is one of many at the front of NFTs, blockchain’s latest hype machine of digital… Read More

April 16, 2021 @ 8:24 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Dr. Joshua Ellul, Chairman of Malta Digital Innovation Authority; Expert Evaluator at European Commission; Director of Centre for DLT at University of Malta, has shared a preprint for a paper that his team plans to present in June 2021 on a “pragmatic” approach to the… Read More