Tagged: EU

September 24, 2020 @ 11:16 am By JD Alois  |  

The European Commission has announced the adoption of a Digital Finance Package along with legislative proposals on crypto-assets (digital assets).  The announcement has been widely anticipated and earlier this month draft legislation pertaining to crypto-assets was leaked to the public. According to a statement by… Read More

September 15, 2020 @ 10:49 am By JD Alois  |  

Draft regulation crafted by the European Commission that pertains to crypto-assets (digital assets) and blockchain tech in financial services has surfaced on the web. Final legislation has been anticipated at some point this month as European policymakers seek to foster an “innovation-friendly” approach that assures… Read More

September 12, 2020 @ 9:24 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Dr. Joshua Ellul, the Chairman of Malta Digital Innovation Authority and Director of Centre for DLTs, University of Malta, has published an open letter to European Union (EU) regulators focused on cryptocurrencies. The letter is also meant to inform relevant policy advisors and makers in… Read More

September 7, 2020 @ 9:07 am By JD Alois  |  

Open Banking, a concept that is widely discussed but understood by relatively few, is an attempt to enable customers to control their own data while requiring financial services to allow access to this data, when approved, to foster a more robust and competitive financial services… 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

July 3, 2020 @ 8:17 am By Olivia Halsall  |  

Electronic Payment Solutions Ltd. (ELPASO) was founded in 2017 by a group of IT geeks, corporate bankers and entrepreneurs is a digital platform for those “who wish to go international in their daily needs like international cross-border payments and currency exchange”, according to its website…. Read More

June 3, 2020 @ 9:45 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

New Zealand-based Fintech firm Zeeco has partnered with Salt Edge, a company that provides Open Banking solutions, in order to access users’ financial data and automate certain eco-contributions. As mentioned in a blog post published on Salt Edge’s official website: “With [rising] awareness [about] the… Read More

May 1, 2020 @ 1:14 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

European trade repository REGIS-TR, which is a joint initiative established by the Clearstream (Deutsche Börse Group) and Iberclear (BME Group), will partner with Sensiple, a company offering regulatory technology (Regtech) for making repurchase agreements and facilitating secure lending. Through the partnership, REGIS-TR and Sensiple plan… Read More

May 1, 2020 @ 11:48 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Amsterdam-based banking challenger Finom, which aims to serve entrepreneurs and SMEs, has secured €6.5 million in seed funding through an investment round led by Target Global. General Catalyst, FJlabs, the Raisin founders Frank Freund, Tamaz Georgadze, and Michael Stephan also took part in Finom’s funding… Read More

April 30, 2020 @ 8:23 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The San Francisco-based developers of Brave, an open-source, privacy-oriented Internet browser, have submitted a complaint which asks the European Commission to take quick action against European Union-based government agencies that are not protecting the data and privacy of local residents. Brave’s complaint was filed on… Read More

April 25, 2020 @ 5:52 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Netherlands-based Bittr, a Bitcoin (BTC) savings service, is reportedly closing down its business. Ruben Waterman, the company’s founder, said that newly-enforced financial regulations were the main reason why Bittr decided to shut down its services. The AMLD5 became effective July 9, 2018, and required the… Read More

April 25, 2020 @ 10:27 am By Omar Faridi  |  

European challenger bank bunq is introducing joint accounts for its Premium and Business account holders. Bunq+1 users will now have the option of opening an account for anyone they want to, which includes their partners and children. Bunq+1 business clients can create new accounts for… Read More

February 28, 2020 @ 7:18 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Malta-based digital asset exchange Binance has teamed up with Shyft Network, the developer of a public blockchain protocol, in order to ensure that it is complying with updated Financial Action Task Force (FATF) financial market regulations. The Shyft Network was developed to offer a decentralized… Read More

January 16, 2020 @ 11:14 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The Baltic region’s finance industry has been struggling and some of the area’s countries including Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have reportedly been indirectly involved in money-laundering scandals that were allegedly orchestrated by large Nordic banks. However, Lithuania’s capital has been able to develop its local… Read More

December 16, 2019 @ 7:09 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Simplecoin, a European cryptocurrency mining platform, has announced that it will be shutting down its operations on January 1, 2020. Simpleton reported that the proposed fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive by the European Union (EU) is currently being implemented by its member states which impacts its… Read More

October 31, 2019 @ 3:30 am By Cali Haan  |  

Deputy finance ministers from France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands have been meeting behind closed doors throughout October to devise a strategy to prevent Facebook from launching its proposed Libra cryptocurrency network among its 2.5 billion users next year. According to four sources to Politico EU,… Read More

October 24, 2019 @ 8:54 am By Cali Haan  |  

The Bank of Lithuania, the country’s central bank, has issued guidelines intended to, “provide greater regulatory clarity and aim at higher investor protection,” in the country’s security token offering (STO) market. Lithuania has been working hard to establish itself as a Fintech leader in the… Read More

October 10, 2019 @ 1:29 am By Cali Haan  |  

The European Union’s finance commissioner-designate, Valdis Dombrovskis, has told fellow members of Europe’s governing body that he plans to propose laws for the regulation of cryptocurrencies, Reuters reports. “Europe needs a common approach on crypto-assets such as Libra…I intend to propose new legislation on this,” Dombrovskis… Read More

August 22, 2019 @ 3:40 am By Cali Haan  |  

Antitrust regulators from the EU’s European Commission are currently examining possible monopoly implications of Libra, Facebook’s proposed global currency system, Bloomberg reports. Facebook announced in June that it would roll out the Libra “stablecoin” cryptocurrency through its WhatsApp and Messenger apps in 2020. They said the… 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