Politics, Legal & Regulation

June 17, 2019 @ 1:01 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Vice Premier of China, Hu Chunnhua, is visiting UK government officials this week. As part of the tour, the UK government has announced a series of deals designed to boost trade with China including financial services. The new business deals were agreed to by… Read More

June 15, 2019 @ 10:53 am By Cali Haan  |  

Europe’s largest cryptocurrency law enforcement event took place this week, June 12th to 14th, at Europol’s headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands, where pan-continental police force also announced it is developing a “serious game” to train investigators in the tracing of cryptocurrency transactions. Over 300 cryptocurrency experts from… Read More

June 14, 2019 @ 12:42 pm By JD Alois  |  

Monax is a blockchain based platform that seeks to lead the sector regarding “digital legal infrastructure.” While finance may be the immediate focus for much of the blockchain industry, other early-stage firms are using the tech to improve a diverse sector of businesses. Edinburgh-based Monax… Read More

June 12, 2019 @ 5:06 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Last weekend in Japan, G20 Finance Ministers “…reaffirm(ed)” their support of incoming “amended” FATF Standards requiring strict KYC/AML compliance in the cryptocurrency sector. The rules are expected to impact cryptocurrency exchanges, crypto wallet providers, custodians, hedge funds and brokers. G20 ministers also stated that they… Read More

June 12, 2019 @ 2:33 am By Cali Haan  |  

A former Senior Software Engineer at Zerocoin Electric Coin Company, the company behind “privacy coin” cryptocurrency ZCash, is suing his former employer for $2 million USD plus costs. Plaintiff Simon Liu alleges in court documents that Zerocoin failed to ever turn over 15 000 Zerocoin… Read More

June 11, 2019 @ 5:43 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Philippine Central Bank (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas or BSP) personnel urged caution regarding the use of cryptocurrencies this week and promised to continue to address the risks posed by them, The Philippine Star reports. Governor Benjamin Diokno said he is wary of cryptocurrencies given that they… Read More

June 11, 2019 @ 4:33 pm By JD Alois  |  

It has been widely known that Kik was engaged in a cage match with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ever since Kik went public regarding a Wells Notice submitted by the SEC. A Wells Notice informs an entity they may be the target of… Read More

June 10, 2019 @ 4:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

France is moving forward to embrace blockchain technology and the issuance of digital assets. While security tokens will be regulated just like the securities they are, France has crafted a regulatory regime that supports the issuance of utility tokens. Last December, the French Government issued… Read More

June 10, 2019 @ 2:57 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Finance Ministers from the world’s 20 most powerful economies have “…reaffirm(ed) (their) commitment to applying the recently amended FATF Standards to virtual assets and related providers for AML (anti-money laundering) and CFT (anti-terrorist finance),” in a communique issued from a meeting they held this weekend… Read More

June 10, 2019 @ 7:49 am By JD Alois  |  

The UK FinTech Alliance has officially launched reporting over 500 companies and individuals have already signed up to join as members. Created in partnership with the Department for International Trade (DIT), the FinTech Alliance seeks to strengthen the UK’s Fintech ecosystem in a single location…. Read More

June 10, 2019 @ 1:03 am By JD Alois  |  

Last week, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) updated the regulatory regime managing the peer to peer lending industry. Overall, the P2P sector saw more rules that increased oversight including a cap on retail investment. Initial comments regarding the rules have been mixed with some… Read More

June 8, 2019 @ 9:03 am By JD Alois  |  

The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) has approved three digital asset exchanges as “Recognized Market Operators” (RMOs) to establish and operate digital asset exchanges (DAX) in Malaysia. Malaysia is known for its support of Fintech innovation in general and recently updated online capital formation rules to… Read More

June 8, 2019 @ 8:45 am By Cali Haan  |  

Details emerging about a proposed bill to ban cryptocurrencies indicate that things have gone from bad to worse for the cryptocurrency sector in India. According to Bloomberg Quint, if passed, new proposed legislation to cover the crypto sector will impose 10-year sentences on individuals possessing,… Read More

June 7, 2019 @ 11:18 am By JD Alois  |  

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) is out with a report on Fintech/distributed ledger technology. Entitled Decentralised Financial Technologies, the document reviews the impact of “decentralization” (IE blockchain and other forms of Fintech) on global financial stability and international regulatory environment. The report is being delivered… Read More

June 7, 2019 @ 1:46 am By Cali Haan  |  

Leaders from the 20 most powerful economies in the world may discuss creating a global regulatory framework for “crypto assets” at their forthcoming meeting in Osaka in June (G20 2019 Japan), and “Virtual Asset Service Providers” (VASPSs) are holding their own concurrent meeting (V20), “…to deliver… Read More

June 6, 2019 @ 11:36 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Tax officials from Australia, the US, Britain, the Netherlands, and Canada have formed a “J5” collaborative group now investigating 60 “lines of inquiry” regarding international tax evasion using cryptocurrencies, The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) reports. “The J5 was formed a year ago because of growing concern… Read More

June 6, 2019 @ 7:21 pm By Cali Haan  |  

The SEC has voted to implement a new rule compelling securities broker-dealers to act in clients’ best interests. SEC Chairperson Jay Clayton spoke about the new rule, as well as the SEC’s treatment of cryptocurrencies, in a televised interview for CNBC’s Squawk Box program June 6th. … Read More

June 6, 2019 @ 4:18 pm By Cali Haan  |  

In its latest “country-specific recommendations,” the EU has advised officials in Malta to enhance oversight of the country’s booming cryptocurrency and gaming sectors, to boost rules and address understaffing in the country’s Economic Crimes Unit, and to act against “aggressive tax planning” (evasion) executed by individuals… Read More

June 6, 2019 @ 10:58 am By JD Alois  |  

Crypto forensics firm Chainalysis has partnered with Lendingblock, the institutional lending exchange for digital assets. Chainalysis will provide AML/KYC technology to Lendingblock. Lendingblock allows hedge funds, exchanges, asset managers, etc. to find liquidity and facilitate strategies, in the digital asset sector. Lendingblock is regulated by… Read More

June 5, 2019 @ 5:14 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Operators of Coinroom, a Polish cryptocurrency trading platform registered in 2016, have shut down the platform suddenly and disappeared with client funds, Polish business media site Money reports. At least 50 people on an online forum have claimed they lost between 300 and 60,000 “zlotys”… Read More