On 25 September 2023, the Council of the European Union (Council) Working Group on Financial Services held a discussion on the European Commission (Commission) proposal on the establishment of a digital euro. Since 2021, the Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB) have been preparing the establishment of the digital euro. Considerate of the fact … Continue Reading
On 24 March 2022, the Bank of England (BoE) published a paper containing a summary of responses it received to its earlier Discussion Paper on new forms of digital money such as, systemic stablecoins and a UK Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). The BoE report that the responses to the Discussion Paper found that: There … Continue Reading
On 13 January 2022, the House of Lords’ Economic Affairs Committee (Committee) published a report ‘Central bank digital currencies: a solution in search of a problem?’. The report states that their Lordships have yet to hear a convincing case for why the UK needs a retail central bank digital currency (CBDC). The Committee found that … Continue Reading
On 14 December 2021, the ISDA published a paper ‘Contractual Standards for Digital Asset Derivatives’. The paper: Identifies novel technology and market-driven events that could disrupt the operation of a digital asset derivatives transaction and provides a framework for dealing with these events. Explores how digital assets (and the derivatives that reference them) can be … Continue Reading
On 23 November 2021, the Council of the EU announced that it had adopted its position on two important components of the digital finance package – the ‘Regulation on Markets in Crypto Assets’ (MiCA) and the ‘Digital Operational Resilience Act’ (DORA). The purpose of MiCA is to create a regulatory framework for the crypto-assets market … Continue Reading
On 9 November 2021, the Bank of England (BoE) issued a statement concerning the next steps on the exploration of a UK Central Bank Digital Currency (UK CBDC). The statement provides that: In 2022, HM Treasury and the BoE will launch a consultation which will set out their assessment of the case for a UK … Continue Reading
On 8 September 2021, UK Finance issued a report Retail CBDC – A threat or opportunity for the payments industry? . In April 2021, the Chancellor announced a new Taskforce between HM Treasury and the Bank of England (BoE) to explore a UK central bank digital currency (CBDC). The BoE issued a discussion paper on … Continue Reading
On 6 September 2021, the FCA published a speech by its Chair, Charles Randell, entitled The risks of token regulation. Key points in the speech include: The tide of regulation is turning all over the world, and online platforms should expect a future where regulation addresses the significant risks they pose in the same way … Continue Reading
On 18 August 2021, the Financial Law Committee of the City of London Law Society published its response on the Law Commission’s ‘Digital assets: Call for Evidence’ and Consultation Paper on ‘Digital assets: electronic trade documents’. For the reasons discussed in the response, the Committee feels that caution should be exercised in relation to any … Continue Reading
On 26 July, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) sent a Dear CEO letter to Portfolio Platforms, setting out reminders of their expectations in the following areas: Operational resilience; SUP 15 notification requirements; Transfer times; and Brexit In respect of operational resilience, the FCA reminds firms that they expect firms to invest in their systems to … Continue Reading
On 9 July 2021, there was published a report on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). The report was released by the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures, the Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The report looks at how CBDCs could facilitate enhanced cross-border payments, and how … Continue Reading
On 7 June 2021, the Bank of England (BoE) published a Discussion Paper that seeks to broaden the debate around new forms of digital money. The Discussion Paper sets out the BoE’s emerging thoughts on new forms of digital money, which include both systemic stablecoins and a UK central bank digital currency (CBDC). It builds … Continue Reading
On 28 April 2021 the Portuguese Presidency of the Council held a meeting of a Council working group in order to continue its legislative review of the proposed regulation on digital operational resilience for the financial sector (DORA). During the meeting, Member States discussed certain issues relating to the scope of the proposed legislation, as … Continue Reading
On 12 April 2021 the Portuguese Presidency of the Council held a meeting to continue Member States’ discussions on the proposed regulation on digital operational resilience for the financial sector (DORA). The agenda for the meeting included discussion on proportionality in DORA as well as scope and timeline of specific regulatory technical standards (RTS) and … Continue Reading
On 14 April 2021, the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) held a committee meeting in which it discussed the main legislative proposals under the European Commission’s (Commission) Digital Finance Strategy. During the discussion, the committee members considered the draft reports on the following legislative proposals: Proposal for a Regulation on Markets … Continue Reading
On Thursday, 21 January, the Portuguese presidency of the Council holds its first working group on the review of the European Commission’s proposal for a Regulation on digital operational resilience for the financial sector (DORA). The Council is still in its initial phase of examining the proposal. The Council Presidency Is taking an issue-by-issue approach, … Continue Reading
On Tuesday, 8 December 2020, the outgoing German Presidency of the Council held another working group to continue its substantive review of the European Commission’s proposal for regulation on digital operational resilience in financial services (DORA). On the agenda for discussion was, among other, in-depth review of certain provisions concerning third-party ICT service providers. Key … Continue Reading
