On 2 July 2019, the FCA published a speech by Christopher Woolard (Executive Director of Strategy and Competition, FCA). The speech, Regulating financial innovation – going behind the scenes, covers ‘stablecoins’ and ‘non-stablecoins’. Mr Woolard explains that market participants use ‘stablecoin’ as a broad term, which encompasses a variety of different types of cryptoassets. A … Continue Reading
On 30 June 2019, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) approved the establishment of an innovation hub to foster international collaboration on innovative financial technology within the central banking community. The role of the hub will be to identify and develop in-depth insights into critical trends in technology affecting central banking: develop public goods in … Continue Reading
On 18 June 2019, the Cyber Task Force of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) published a final report that provides an overview of how its members are using three prominent and internationally recognised cyber frameworks (defined in the report as the ‘Core Standards’): National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework; CPMI-IOSCO Guidance … Continue Reading
On 13 June 2019, the Bank of England (BoE) published a press release alongside the FCA and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) regarding collaboration in the field of cyber security. Specifically, the MAS, the BoE and the FCA have announced that they will be working together to strengthen cyber security in their financial sectors. … Continue Reading
On 6 June 2019, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) published a report considering the implications of decentralised financial technologies. The report considers the financial stability, regulatory and governance implications of the use of decentralised financial technologies such as those involving distributed ledgers and online peer-to-peer, or user-matching, platforms. The report focuses on technologies that may … Continue Reading
On 30 May 2019, the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) issued a press release following its meeting this month in which priority issues facing securities market regulators and supervisors were discussed. The priority issues include: crypto-assets. IOSCO will be publishing a consultation report on crypto-asset trading platforms, in response to a G20 request. IOSCO … Continue Reading
On 31 May 2019, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) published a report on crypto-assets, which considers work underway, regulatory approaches and potential gaps. The report is being delivered to G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors for their meeting in Fukuoka on 8-9 June. International organisations are working on a number of fronts, directly addressing … Continue Reading
On 29 May 2019, the FCA issued a call for input regarding a cross-sector sandbox. The call for input provides an overview of the FCA’s work on the concept of a cross-sector sandbox, highlights what the sandbox is and, using case studies, explains the opportunities and challenges a cross-sectoral sandbox could pose for firms and … Continue Reading
On 28 May 2019 the International Organization for Securities Commission (IOSCO) published a consultation paper on Issues, Risks and Regulatory Considerations Relating to Crypto-Asset Trading Platforms. Prepared by IOSCO’s Committee 2 on the Regulation of Secondary Markets, the consultation paper seeks stakeholder views in order to help IOSCO members evaluate the issues and risks relating … Continue Reading
On 28 May 2019, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) published a progress report on its work todate on developing effective practices for financial institutions’ response to, and recovery from, a cyber incident. As part of its work programme to enhance the cyber resilience of financial institutions, the FSB is developing a toolkit of effective practices … Continue Reading
On 20 May 2019, The Cyber-Attacks (Asset-Freezing) Regulations 2019 were made and published on legislation.gov.uk, together with an explanatory memorandum. The Regulations provide a domestic framework for the implementation of Council Regulation 2019/796 concerning restrictive measures against cyber-attacks threatening the EU or its Member States. The Council Regulation came into force on 17 May 2019. … Continue Reading
Partners from our global FinTech team flew in from Hong Kong, Vancouver, London and Dallas to join our New York team to attend Consensus and Blockchain week in NYC (13-15 May). Consensus is an annual global conference which brings together the world’s most innovative minds to explore and debate the future of blockchain and crypto. … Continue Reading
On 9 May 2019, the UK Jurisdiction Taskforce (UKJT) published a consultation on identifying the key issues of legal uncertainty regarding cryptoassets, distributed ledger technology (DLT) and smart contracts. The UKJT is one of the six taskforces of the LawTech Delivery Panel. Its objective is to demonstrate that English law and the jurisdiction of England and … Continue Reading
On 30 April 2019, the Bank of England (BoE) published a speech by Dave Ramsden (Deputy Governor Markets & Banking, BoE) at the Innovate Finance Global Summit 2019. The speech is entitled Embracing Fintech. Key points in the speech include: the BoE is renewing its Real Time Gross Settlement service (RTGS), the UK’s core payments … Continue Reading
On 29 April 2019, the FCA published a speech by Christopher Woolard, Executive Director of Strategy and Competition at the FCA, on the progress of Project Innovate. Key points to note within the speech include: the FCA has now launched the first cross-border tests of the Global Financial Innovation Network (GFIN) – a group of regulators working together to … Continue Reading
On 10 April 2019, the Joint Committee of the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) published two pieces of joint advice in response to requests made by the European Commission in its March 2018 FinTech Action Plan: Joint Advice on the need for legislative improvements relating to Information and Communication Technology risk management requirements in the EU … Continue Reading
On 5 April 2019, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) published its crypto-assets regulators directory. The purpose of the directory is to provide information on the relevant regulators and other authorities in FSB jurisdictions and international bodies who are dealing with crypto-asset issues, and the aspects covered by them. The directory will be delivered to the … Continue Reading
On 3 April 2019, the European Commission announced the launch of the International Association of Trusted Blockchain Applications (INATBA). Per the Commission’s announcement, the INATBA aims to bring together industry start-ups, small and medium enterprises, regulators and standard setting bodies to bring blockchain and distributed ledger technology into the mainstream. More than 100 organisations have … Continue Reading
On 13 March 2019, the FCA updated its webpage on digital regulatory reporting (DRR). The FCA has added the following materials to its webpage: a video explaining the FCA’s work with the DRR pilot group; a phase I report on its DRR pilot. The pilot explored how firms and regulators could use technology to make … Continue Reading
On 13 March 2019, the Markets Committee and Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS committees) published a report on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). The report follows work from the BIS committees on CBDCs in which they analysed the potential implications for payment systems, monetary policy implementation and … Continue Reading
On 13 March 2019, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (Basel Committee) published a statement on crypto-assets. In recognition that crypto-assets do not reliably provide the standard functions of money and are unsafe to rely on as a medium of exchange or store of value, the Basel Committee’s statement sets out its prudential expectations related … Continue Reading
On 8 March 2019, the FCA published a report on industry insights into cyber security. The FCA notes that since 2017, it has brought together over 175 firms across different financial sectors to share information and ideas from their cyber experiences. The FCA runs Cyber Coordination Groups (CCGs) with the industry to help improve cyber security … Continue Reading
On 7 March 2019, the FCA published two pieces of research looking at UK consumer attitudes to crypto-assets. The first piece of research explores the attitudes, understanding and motivations behind people’s decisions to purchase and use different crypto-assets, through qualitative interviews with a small number of crypto-asset owners. The second piece of research is a … Continue Reading
On 26 February 2019, the European Commission published the speech given by Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis (VD) at the 3rd Annual Afore Fintech Conference. VD begins his speech by covering the Commission’s Fintech Action Plan. Last year the Commission asked the European Supervisory Authorities to report on regulatory sandboxes and innovation hubs in Member States. VD … Continue Reading
