Politics, Legal & Regulation

July 19, 2017 @ 5:51 pm By JD Alois  |  

Hester Peirce, a Professor at George Mason University, has been nominated to become a Commissioner at the Securities and Exchange Commission thus filling one of two vacancies. Peirce was previously selected by the Obama administration to become a Commissioner but the nomination stalled in the Senate… Read More

July 19, 2017 @ 2:44 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Acting Comptroller of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Keith Noreika, answered a pressing question today in a speech delivered at the Exchequer Club in Washington, DC. Noreika asked the question of himself that everyone in finance had been wondering; “What are… Read More

July 19, 2017 @ 12:23 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced that Christopher R. Hetner will continue to serve as Senior Advisor to Chairman Jay Clayton for Cybersecurity Policy, having previously served in this role under Chair Mary Jo White and Acting Chairman Michael Piwowar. Hetner will continue to… Read More

July 17, 2017 @ 8:11 am By JD Alois  |  

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published the Terms of Reference regarding the Investment Platforms Market Study. The document will be used as a guide in the FCA review of platform. For the purposes of this study the FCA defines “platforms” broadly. The study is said… Read More

July 16, 2017 @ 12:30 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Securities, and Investment, part of the Financial Services Committee, has scheduled a hearing to take place next week on the topic of the excessive cost of being public company. The hearing entitled, “The Cost of Being a Public Company in… Read More

July 14, 2017 @ 2:29 pm By JD Alois  |  

In a letter addressed to the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, authored by the Bitcoin Foundation based in San Francisco, a request was made to back off of a proposed uniform statute entitled, “Uniform Regulation of Virtual Currency Business.” In brief, the… Read More

July 13, 2017 @ 9:57 pm By Jonathan Nieh  |  

Earlier this month, the Delaware House of Representatives passed amendments to state law that would make it explicitly legal for stocks to be traded on a blockchain, the technology behind cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether. According to an article on Coindesk, the amendments relating to… Read More

July 13, 2017 @ 9:58 am By Cole Lyons  |  

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Bank of Thailand (BOT) signed a Fintech Cooperation Agreement at the biennial Bilateral Meeting on July 11th. In addition, they also updated the Memorandum of Understanding on Banking Supervision that the two parties already had in place…. Read More

July 12, 2017 @ 3:31 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Nearly three years after Kickstarter joined forces with various internet giants to protest against net neutrality, the crowdfunding giant has made the move to stand against potential changes to the current FCC net neutrality regulations. On Wednesday, visitors to Kickstarter’s main website page were greeted… Read More

July 12, 2017 @ 2:27 pm By JD Alois  |  

In an address delivered today at the Economic Club of New York, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton outlined his vision of the nation’s top securities regulator. Focusing first on the SEC’s Mission;  to protect investors, to maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and to… Read More

July 11, 2017 @ 6:10 pm By Therese Torris  |  

On July 11, at the 23rd edition of the Paris Europlace International Financial Forum, Edouard Philippe, the Prime Minister of France reached out to 1,500 leaders of global financial services firms: “Welcome to Paris.” He said in English. “The French government is committed to boost… Read More

July 11, 2017 @ 10:50 am By Therese Torris  |  

Banks represented by the European Banking Authority (EBA) and Fintechs represented through the Future of European Fintech are in profound disagreement about the technical standards for the implementation of the Second Directive on Payment Services (PSD2). Banks argue that screen scraping should be banned in… Read More

July 10, 2017 @ 10:30 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced a new rule to ban financial companies from using mandatory arbitration clauses. The CFPB said these rules have denied people their day in court. Many consumer financial products like credit cards and bank accounts have arbitration clauses in… Read More

July 10, 2017 @ 5:06 pm By JD Alois  |  

U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Acting Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo has appointed Daniel Gorfine to serve as Director of LabCFTC and Chief Innovation Officer. Launched in May, LabCFTC is the CFTC’s sandbox type environment for Fintech innovation. Gorfine is well known in the Fintech and… Read More

July 10, 2017 @ 7:45 am By Anthony Zeoli  |  

In a recent testimony to the Investor Advisory Committee of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Scott Kupor, CEO & Managing Partner of Andreessen Horowitz, a $6.5 billion multi-stage venture capital firm, gave an amazingly comprehensive and concise description of today’s vanishing IPO market, the… Read More

July 7, 2017 @ 3:36 pm By Cole Lyons  |  

It is fair to say that over the past couple years, Fintech has taken the financial industry by storm. Their new-age approach to classic finance has added value to both companies and consumers. Because of this, many countries have decided to ride this wave of… Read More

July 7, 2017 @ 11:46 am By JD Alois  |  

The UK Department for International Trade has announced that the UK has attracted more foreign direct investment (FDI) projects than ever before for the year 2016 to 2017. This is encouraging news in light of Brexit and the looming changes regarding the UK’s relationship with continental Europe…. Read More

July 6, 2017 @ 2:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

There is a bill circulating in Congress that may dramatically impact Reg A+ utilization – the crowdfunding rule that currently allows issuers to raise up to $50 million in a scaled disclosure environment. Sponsored by House Representatives Kyrsten Sinema and Trey Hollingsworth, the bill (HR… Read More

July 6, 2017 @ 6:49 am By Cole Lyons  |  

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and has announced they have entered a Fintech agreement with the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority (Danish FSA). This new collaboration will allow companies in both Singapore and Denmark to expand into each other’s markets more fluidly. Over the past couple… Read More

July 6, 2017 @ 4:53 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Record levels of venture capital investment at the start of 2017 has helped London retain its crown as Europe’s number one tech hub for global investors, according to new data from London & Partners, the Mayor of London’s promotional agency. “London remains Europe’s leading hub… Read More