Politics, Legal & Regulation

August 3, 2020 @ 3:29 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last week, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian P. Brooks virtually presented Varo Bank, N.A. its official charter. Varo Money has been in business for years having provided bank services by partnering with an already chartered bank. As of August 1st, 2020, Varo Bank can… Read More

August 3, 2020 @ 2:44 pm By JD Alois  |  

Russia has signed into law legislation that impacts the cryptocurrency sector. On the last day of July, the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, signed the document that introduces a legal framework for digital assets that differentiates between digital securities and digital currencies. The statute, Federal Law… Read More

August 2, 2020 @ 2:33 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Bank of Japan or BOJ (JASDAQ: 8301), the nation’s central bank that’s headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, has reportedly appointed Kazushige Kamiyama, a prominent economist, as its head of a department that’s tasked with conducting research on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Reuters reports that… Read More

August 2, 2020 @ 2:27 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) has announced that in light of the COVID-19 crisis and difficulties regarding small businesses accessing capital, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has made an interim local order that adopts the start-up crowdfunding regime currently in place in certain other Canadian… Read More

August 2, 2020 @ 12:42 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The London Stock Exchange (LSE), which is based in the City of London, England and has a market cap of around $4.6 trillion, is reportedly looking into whether it should sell its Borsa Italiana business, so that it can appease certain European Union regulators, and… Read More

August 1, 2020 @ 10:22 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Authorities in China have reportedly arrested 27 suspects who are allegedly responsible for conducting one of the largest cryptocurrency related scams, which is now well-known as the Plus Token Ponzi scheme. The arrests were made following extensive investigations by local agencies including China’s Ministry of… Read More

July 31, 2020 @ 5:43 pm By JD Alois  |  

The British Standards Institution (BSI) has posted a document regarding the standardization of security tokens. Comments are being requested by interested parties until the 28th of August. The BSI is the UK’s National Standards Body representing UK economic and social interests across all European and… Read More

July 31, 2020 @ 3:44 pm By JD Alois  |  

  A 17-year-old teenager in Hillsborough County, Florida has been arrested in relation to the high profile Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) hack that recently occurred. Hillsborough county where Tampa is located.   BREAKING: Hillsborough State Attorney @AndrewWarrenFL announces arrest of 17-year-old Graham Ivan Clark in “Bit-Con” hack… Read More

July 31, 2020 @ 11:01 am By JD Alois  |  

SEBA Bank AG, a bank that is regulated and licensed by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), has completed two independent audits in relation to existing processes and controls. SEBA Bank is a digital asset focused firm that offers an “institutional-grade solution for digital… Read More

July 31, 2020 @ 7:33 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed on July 29, 2020 that it’s planning to award a single-source contract to blockchain security firm CipherTrace, a Menlo Park, California based business that recently introduced real-time predictive risk scoring for cryptocurrencies. The SEC said that CipherTrace… Read More

July 27, 2020 @ 5:57 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has announced its intent to issue an “advance notice of proposed rulemaking” (ANPR) this year on consumer-authorized access to financial records. The rulemaking will impact both traditional financial service firms as well as Fintechs and falls along the lines… Read More

July 26, 2020 @ 1:18 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Electric Coin Company (ECC), which supports the development of Zcash (ZEC), a privacy-oriented cryptocurrency, recently revealed that Liquid will be delisting ZEC along with 28 other digital currencies or tokens because the Japanese crypto trading platform is planning to apply for a license to… Read More

July 24, 2020 @ 7:22 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The latest Fintech platforms and peer to peer (P2P) lenders are creating new challenges for regulatory authorities, because they have to figure out how to develop appropriate rules and guidelines for new types of products and services. A report from Oliver Wyman, an International Banking… Read More

July 24, 2020 @ 4:39 pm By JD Alois  |  

Months ago, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) kicked off a review of the exempt offering ecosystem in an attempt to improve access to capital for younger firms while continuing to ensure sufficient investor protection. Over the years, access to capital via the public markets… Read More

July 24, 2020 @ 3:11 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Trustify Inc., along with founder and CEO Daniel Boice, with fraudulently offering and selling over $18.5 million of securities to more than 90 corporate and individual investors. The allegations were made in relation to an offering and… Read More

July 22, 2020 @ 3:47 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has posted a letter clarifying national banks’ and federal savings associations’ authority to provide cryptocurrency custody services for customers. The OCC is the lead bank regulator in the US. Recently, the OCC has issued several forwarding… Read More

July 21, 2020 @ 3:07 pm By JD Alois  |  

What makes something a “distributed ledger or blockchain technology-based” security? SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce has published a speech delivered to the Blockchain Association of Singapore. Unable to attend in person due to COVID-19, Commissioner Peirce visited with the Association virtually, addressing the hot topic of… Read More

July 20, 2020 @ 10:21 pm By JD Alois  |  

CoolBitX and Elliptic have partnered to launch Sygna Bridge. a solution for virtual asset service providers (VASPs) to comply with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) travel rule for crypto. CoolBitX is a blockchain security company. Elliptic is a crypto risk management firm. The collaboration… Read More

July 20, 2020 @ 4:46 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has proposed a rule that would determine when a national bank or federal savings association (bank) makes a loan and is the “true lender” in the context of a partnership between a bank and a third… Read More

July 20, 2020 @ 4:25 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Matthew Unger, CEO at Vancouver, Canada-based iComply Investor Services Inc, a global compliance platform for digital finance, reveals that updated regulations for strong client authentication and transaction monitoring now require Fintech companies to manage many complex tools. He points out in an Op-Ed on Finance… Read More