Every month we provide the Global Blockchain Business Council’s Post-Trade Distributed Ledger group with a global regulatory FinTech updater, the latest version of which can be found here. Post Trade Distributed Ledger (PTDL) Group is composed of over 40 prominent market infrastructure stakeholders whose shared vision of the use of distributed ledger technology has brought … Continue Reading
Our global financial services team has launched a new platform, CryptoNavigator, which provides a mixture of plug-and-play products and tailored advisory services to help firms navigate ever expanding regulatory requirements across the cryptoassets landscape. These include products and services to provide support with financial promotions and authorisations, as well as a global legal and regulatory … Continue Reading
On 1 August 2023, the FCA launched a new webpage: Digital Sandbox pilots. The webpage outlines the FCA’s first Digital Sandbox pilot, which ran between October 2020 and February 2021, and provides a link to the evaluation report. The webpage also gives an overview of the FCA’s second Digital Sandbox pilot, which focussed on testing … Continue Reading
On 20 July 2023, the FCA announced the launch of its permanent Digital Sandbox. The Digital Sandbox, which has until now only been available temporarily to those participating in pilots and TechSprints, will be made available permanently on 1 August 2023 following two successful pilots. The Digital Sandbox is a testing environment which allows the … Continue Reading
On 20 July 2023, the House of Commons’ Treasury Committee published the government’s response to its report on Regulating Crypto. In the report, which was published in May 2023, the cross-party Committee of MPs called for consumer trading in unbacked crypto to be regulated as gambling. The Committee had outlined concerns that the government’s proposals … Continue Reading
On 12 July 2023, the FCA published Feedback Statement 23/4: The potential competition impacts of Big tech entry and expansion in retail financial services (FS23/4). FS23/4 summarises feedback to the FCA’s October 2022 discussion paper (DP22/5) which aimed to stimulate conversation on areas where Big Tech entry is likely to create the biggest competition benefits … Continue Reading
On 4 July 2023, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published a speech by Jose Manuel Campa, Chairperson of the EBA, at the Central Bank of Cyprus, where he discussed FinTech and the future of financial intermediation. In his speech, Mr Manuel Campa made the following remarks:… Continue Reading
On 27 June 2023, the Law Commission published its final report on digital assets, which sets out recommendations for reform and development of the law on digital assets with the aim of securing the UK’s position as a global crypto hub. In March 2020, the UK Government asked the Commission to review the law on … Continue Reading
On 22 June 2023, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) published a letter in response to HM Treasury and the Bank of England’s (BoE) consultation on the ‘digital pound’. In the letter, the PSR sets out the following views:… Continue Reading
On 22 June 2023, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a speech delivered by Verena Ross, ESMA Chair, at the ISLA 30th annual securities finance and collateral management conference on building safe digital financial markets: a collective effort. In her speech, Ms Ross addresses the following: Current market conditions MiCA DLT Pilot CSDR… Continue Reading
On 22 June 2023, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) published a consultative document on enhancing third-party risk management and oversight: a toolkit for financial institutions and financial authorities. The toolkit has been developed against a backdrop of digitalisation of the financial services sector and growing reliance of financial institutions on third-party service providers for a … Continue Reading
On 22 June 2023, the European Commission, published the keynote speech delivered by Commissioner McGuiness, at the FinTech Soiree hosted by the European Fintech association. In her speech, Commissioner McGuiness highlights the following points:… Continue Reading
Introduction On 6 June 2023, the FCA published Policy Statement 23/6: Financial promotion rules for cryptoassets (PS23/6). Earlier consultations In January 2022, HM Treasury published a consultation response regarding its intention to legislate to bring certain promotions of qualifying cryptoassets within the FCA’s remit. On 1 February 2023, HM Treasury issued a policy statement confirming … Continue Reading
On 2 June 2023, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) updated its Q&As on the implementation of Regulation (EU) 2022/858 on a pilot regime for market infrastructures based on distributed ledger technology. In particular, ESMA has added new Q&As on DLT market infrastructures, cash settlement and exemptions from the Central Securities Depositories Regulation.… Continue Reading
On 25 May 2023, a group of central banks, together with the Bank for International Settlements, published a paper on central bank digital currencies (CBDC): ongoing policy perspectives. Since publishing (i) a report in October 2020 setting out the common foundational principles and core features of a CBDC, and (ii) an executive summary and three … Continue Reading
On 25 May 2023, the European Systemic Risk Board (ERSB) issued a report which considers the role of financial stability and macroprudential policy for cryptoassets, their service providers and decentralised finance (DeFi) applications. The report also covers the systemic implications of the cryptoasset market, its service providers and DeFi applications in the EU. The report … Continue Reading
On 23 May 2023, the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) published a consultation report containing 18 proposed recommendations intended to help IOSCO members apply IOSCO’s Objectives and Principles for Securities Regulation and relevant supporting IOSCO standards, recommendations and good practices to crypto-asset activities within their jurisdictions. The proposed recommendations cover six key areas: The … Continue Reading
On 18 May 2023, UNIDROIT’s Governing Council reported that it had adopted the UNIDROIT principles on digital assets and private law (the principles) at its 102nd session in Rome, Italy. The principles were prepared by a working group on digital assets and private law, which comprised of 25 members, 22 observers from international, regional and … Continue Reading
On 17 May 2023, the House of Commons Treasury Committee published a report on regulating crypto, in which it calls for consumer trading in unbacked cryptoassets to be regulated as gambling. The key conclusions and recommendations set out in the report include: The Committee plans to continue to follow developments in this space as both … Continue Reading
In light of recent market developments, firms in the FinTech space should be taking steps to review and enhance as needed their internal governance arrangements since these are key to mitigating the risk of misconduct and mistakes and consequential investigations, enforcement and claims, which can significantly impact not only the business but also its staff. … Continue Reading
On 26 April 2023, HM Treasury announced that the Economic Secretary has re-established the Asset Management Taskforce. The Taskforce is an influential forum convening senior leadership from industry and the FCA to identify and harness the potential of innovative new technologies for the UK asset management industry. Five new senior executives from the UK’s investment … Continue Reading
On 26 April 2023, the FCA published a speech by its Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director of Authorisations, Emily Shepperd, delivered at City Week 2023. In her speech, Ms Shepperd discusses how regulation can help the UK lead in fintech. Topics covered in the speech include: Ms Shepperd concludes her speech by remarking that … Continue Reading
On 25 April 2023, the FCA published a speech by its Executive Director of Markets and Executive Director of International, Sarah Pritchard, at City Week 2023. The speech focuses on the regulation of digital assets in the UK. In her speech, Ms Pritchard notes the rapid growth in digital assets in the UK. She warns … Continue Reading
On 19 April 2023, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published the 2022 report on quality and use of transaction data. The report highlights the increased use of transaction data by EU financial regulatory authorities in their day-to-day supervision and identifies significant quality improvements following a new approach to data monitoring. In addition, it … Continue Reading
