Politics, Legal & Regulation

July 20, 2020 @ 3:48 pm By JD Alois  |  

Jack Abramoff, the infamous lobbyist, has settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding allegations of an illicit digital asset offering. As was previously reported, Abramoff, along with NAC Foundation (National Aten Coin) and its CEO Marcus Andrade were charged with selling a digital asset security,… Read More

July 20, 2020 @ 10:46 am By JD Alois  |  

HM Treasury has issued two public consultations today. One is a review of the current requirement for an authorized firm to approve the financial promotion of an unauthorized firm that may not operate as a strong enough safeguard to ensure such financial promotions are compliant… Read More

July 20, 2020 @ 9:30 am By JD Alois  |  

The Lord Mayor of the City of London has kicked off a “virtual programme in Australia” with the goal of discussing green tech and Fintech collaboration. According to DIT, William Russell, the 692nd Lord Mayor of London, will be promoting closer collaboration in in these… Read More

July 20, 2020 @ 7:41 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The Securities Commission (SC) of Malaysia, which recently warned residents about facing lengthy prison sentences and fines for operating unlicensed Cryptocurrency ATMs, has specifically mentioned that Binance, the world’s largest digital asset exchange, is not authorized to offer services in the country. The Malaysian SC… Read More

July 19, 2020 @ 1:11 pm By JD Alois  |  

The US Attorney in the Southern District of Texas has arrested an individual for allegedly receiving over $1.1 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans which were used to purchase cryptocurrency according to a statement by the Department of Justice. Joshua Thomas Argires, 29,  of… Read More

July 18, 2020 @ 12:54 pm By JD Alois  |  

A former Wirecard (WDI:DE) executive who was based in Dubai but returned to Germany and was quickly arrested wants to cooperate with investigators according to multiple reports. The unnamed individual was previously CEO of Cardsystems Middle East an entity that reportedly generated the bulk of… Read More

July 17, 2020 @ 9:20 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) recently warned local consumers and businesses against the usage of Cryptocurrency Automatic Teller Machines (Crypto ATMs). Crypto ATMs are machines that let individuals purchase and sell digital assets through cash, debit or credit cards or electronic wallets. These machines have… Read More

July 17, 2020 @ 8:59 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an intergovernmental organization that develops policies to combat money laundering and terrorism financing, recently concluded its year long review of its Travel Rule standards for virtual asset service providers (VASPs). The FATF confirmed that it will be extending its… Read More

July 16, 2020 @ 9:35 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has reportedly awarded over $1 million to InfoBeyond Technology LLC, a software development company. The DOE funded initiative, called “Gridchain: An Auditable Blockchain for Smart Grid Data Integrity and Immutability,” was awarded the grant money during the recent selection… Read More

July 16, 2020 @ 10:09 am By JD Alois  |  

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published draft guidance on their expectations for banks and availability to cash in a market that is seeing a growing number of bank branches closing and ATMs going away. The regulator states that it wants to ensure that… Read More

July 15, 2020 @ 5:41 pm By JD Alois  |  

Jackson Mueller has long been a key voice and industry participant in the policy realm in regards to the Fintech ecosystem. Until recently, Mueller was the Associate Director, Fintech Program at the Milken Institute, Center for Financial Markets. Mueller’s reports have long been a solid… Read More

July 15, 2020 @ 9:08 am By Omar Faridi  |  

UK-based Lendy, a peer to peer (P2P) lender that shut down in 2019 and went into administration, was requiring previous investors to pass certain anti-money laundering (AML) checks again, before they qualify to get refunds. Administrators of the bankrupt P2P lender have revealed that the… Read More

July 14, 2020 @ 11:41 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

South Korea’s private sector members have revealed that the nation’s citizens may have to pay as much as 20% of their cryptocurrency earnings in taxes. The country’s lawmakers have said that virtual currencies are like electronic or digital certificates of economic value that may be… Read More

July 13, 2020 @ 10:22 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Temasek have published the final report on a blockchain trial. The report, “Project Ubin Phase 5: Enabling Broad Ecosystem Opportunities” shares insights into the blockchain-based multi-currency payments network prototype that was built and describes how the network could… Read More

July 13, 2020 @ 9:54 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The G20 summit, which will include representatives from 19 different countries and the EU, will be working on laying the groundwork for accepting digital payments. The G20, which is an international forum for world governments and central bank governors, might make changes to the existing… Read More

July 13, 2020 @ 8:34 am By JD Alois  |  

The Wirecard AG (WDI:DE) scandal has rocked the Fintech world as the once high flying firm that was a member of the DAX filed for bankruptcy following the revelation of a €1.9 billion in missing funds. Regulators, elected officials as well as Fintech industry insiders have… Read More

July 12, 2020 @ 3:02 pm By JD Alois  |  

Yesterday, Crowdfund Insider reported on layoffs at OnDeck (NYSE:ONDK) – an SME focused online lender. Like many online lenders, COVID-19 has hit this sector of Fintech hard. Looking for additional insight into the challenges the industry CI reached out to an industry insider for their perspective… Read More

July 12, 2020 @ 1:41 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Gary Guthrie from ConsumerAffairs notes that the July 15, 2020 tax-filing deadline for US taxpayers is approaching, and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) plans to ensure that US residents have the appropriate tools and services to assist them with filing taxes and meeting their obligations…. Read More

July 12, 2020 @ 12:35 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

San Francisco-based crypto exchange Coinbase is offering its blockchain analytics software to the US Secret Service, a federal law enforcement agency that operates under the Department of Homeland Security. The agency performs criminal investigations and aims to protect the country’s leaders and their family members…. Read More

July 12, 2020 @ 11:26 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), an independent bureau within the US Department of the Treasury that serves to charter, regulate, and supervise all national banks  (among other responsibilities), has introduced an initiative that aims to promote greater financial inclusion of unserved… Read More