Politics, Legal & Regulation

December 7, 2017 @ 9:41 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) have signed a Fintech Co-operation Agreement today to boost collaboration between the two regulatory authorities, with a view to facilitating financial innovation in the two jurisdictions. The Co-operation Agreement was signed by… Read More

December 7, 2017 @ 1:10 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Italian financial markets regulator (Consob – Commissione Nazionale per le Società e per la Borsa) has issued resolution No. 20204, a new regulatory provision updating the regulation that introduced equity crowdfunding in Italy. Italy was one of the first European countries to issue a… Read More

December 6, 2017 @ 11:16 am By JD Alois  |  

The Bitcoin Foundation has been working diligently to mitigate language of pending legislation, “The Combating Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and Counterfeiting Act of 2017″ (S.1241), in the US Senate that would define anyone issuing, redeeming or cashing Bitcoin as a financial institution. Think about what that… Read More

December 5, 2017 @ 7:13 pm By JD Alois  |  

The “Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act” was approved by the Senate Committee on Banking today in a legislative move that may improve the environment for much beleaguered banking industry – most profoundly smaller banks. S.2155 found bipartisan support as the bill was… Read More

December 5, 2017 @ 8:03 am By JD Alois  |  

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has just released an update on their regulatory Sandbox created to help aspiring Fintech firms to navigate the labyrinth of financial services rules. The trailblazing project, which has been replicated around the world, kicked off in 2014 and the… Read More

December 4, 2017 @ 3:28 pm By JD Alois  |  

iComplyICO, a Fintech startup based in Vancouver, is reporting it it has secured an angel investment from Praveen Mandal. iComplyICO simultaneously appointed Mandel to its advisory council. Mandal is an MIT Connection Science Fellow and a veteran of five successful formative stage start-ups including Pipal… Read More

December 4, 2017 @ 2:53 pm By Barry James  |  

It was recently reported that the former chief economist of the World Bank wants Bitcoin banned, saying “Bitcoin is successful only because of its potential for circumvention, lack of oversight” You missed something crucial. Because of the ‘McKinsey’ factor. The operative rules (laws of nature from… Read More

December 4, 2017 @ 1:59 pm By JD Alois  |  

Perkins Coie, a law firm that is very active in the Fintech / Blockchain space, has announced the hiring of a former SEC attorney. Michael S. Didiuk has joined the firm’s Investment Management practice group as a partner in the San Francisco office where he… Read More

December 4, 2017 @ 11:16 am By JD Alois  |  

Bitcoin will accomplish a milestone hurdle this month as it begins to trade BTC futures and options thus legitimizing the cryptocurrency. While some naysayers continue to cast dispersion on digital currencies in general each step that Bitcoin takes into the world of traditional finance means… Read More

December 4, 2017 @ 9:13 am By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission has obtained an emergency asset freeze to halt an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) scam that reportedly raised up to $15 million from thousands of investors since August. Dominic Lacroix, and his company, PlexCorps, had launched the PlexCoin ICO and falsely… Read More

December 3, 2017 @ 10:57 am By JD Alois  |  

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has launched a “Fintech Supervisory Chatroom” designed to provide regulatory feedback to Fintech firms and authorized institutions. This is part of Hong Kong’s push to become the leading Fintech hub in Asia and part of their young Fintech Sandbox… Read More

December 3, 2017 @ 9:41 am By JD Alois  |  

Taylor-Copeland Law, the San Diego based law firm that filed the first class action law suit that hammered the Tezos initial coin offering (ICO) and everyone associated with it, is looking for other ICOs to legally pursue. According to a post on their site, Taylor-Copeland… Read More

December 1, 2017 @ 8:53 am By JD Alois  |  

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and the CBOE Futures Exchange (CFE) self-certified new contracts for Bitcoin futures and the Cantor Exchange (Cantor) self-certified a new contract for Bitcoin binary options. CFTC Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo said that Bitcoin is a commodity unlike anything the CFTC… Read More

November 30, 2017 @ 1:16 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Federal Reserve Vice Chairman for Supervision, Randal K. Quarles, commented on digital currencies today in a speech in Washington, DC. Quarles cautioned on cryptocurrencies noting that; “Digital currencies may not pose major concerns at their current levels of use, more serious financial stability issues… Read More

November 30, 2017 @ 12:38 pm By JD Alois  |  

Speaking at the annual SEC Forum on Small Business Capital Formation, William Hinman, Director of Division of Corporation Finance at the SEC, said there are more enforcement actions coming when it comes to Initial Coin Offerings (ICO). Hinman, a former Silicon Valley based corporate attorney, did… Read More

November 30, 2017 @ 8:07 am By JD Alois  |  

Coinbase has received a judgement by the US District Court of Northern California ordering it to hand over all account information to the IRS for any transaction with the equivalent of $20,000 or more during the years 2013 to 2015. In the case United States… Read More

November 29, 2017 @ 10:36 am By JD Alois  |  

The Tezos legal battle continues as the Restis Law firm in San Diego, along with Lite DePalma Greenberg, have filed a class action law suit in the state of California on behalf of GGCC, LLC against Dynamic Ledger Solutions (DLS), Tezos Stiftung (a Swiss Foundation), Kathleen Breitman… Read More

November 28, 2017 @ 9:08 am By Anthony Zeoli  |  

If you’ve been under a rock for the last year or so, you might not know that “initial coin offerings” or ICOs are the hottest thing in the financial market today. As if the fact that the overwhelming majority of ICOs aren’t regulated in any… Read More

November 27, 2017 @ 10:30 am By JD Alois  |  

Speaking in Brussels last week, Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank (ECB), addressed the topic of digital currencies. Siegfried Mureşan (PPE), speaking on behalf of Tom Vandenkendelaere who was unable to attend the meeting, posed this question to Draghi regarding the emergence of cryptocurrencies; “Over… Read More

November 27, 2017 @ 8:47 am By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission has messaged strongly their intent to enforce the need for Initial Coin Offerings to file for the appropriate exemption.  Yes. there is the ongoing debate as to when a digital token becomes a security but fairly recently Securities and Exchange… Read More