29 April 2021 09:00 – 10:00 BST / 16:00 – 17:00 HKT 16:00 – 17:00 BST / 11:00 – 12:00 EDT As the global crypto-economy continues to grow and mature, one area stands out as a critical core capability: custody. In this webinar, members of our global financial services team will compare notes on their … Continue Reading
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
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
On March 3, 2021, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) announced a Consent Order with a NYDFS-licensed Maine-based mortgage banker and loan servicer settling alleged violations of the NYDFS cybersecurity regulations. (In the matter of Residential Mortgage Services, Inc., March 3, 2021). As a result of the regular safety and soundness examination of … Continue Reading
In recent weeks, Commissioner Hester Peirce of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) gave two speeches highlighting the need for legal clarity in the FinTech space and for legacy financial firms to embrace innovation. Speaking at a George Washington University Law School event – Regulating the Digital Economy Conference – Commissioner Peirce discussed the recent … Continue Reading
On February 26, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) Division of Examinations (the “Division” and formerly known as “OCIE”) released a Risk Alert (the “Risk Alert”) reminding market participants – investment advisers, broker-dealers, exchanges, and transfer agents – of the framework surrounding digital assets that are securities (“Digital Asset Securities”). The Division also set … Continue Reading
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) granted crypto-focused Protego Trust Company, a Washington state trust company, conditional approval to convert to a national trust bank earlier this month, marking only the second time that a federal bank charter has been approved for a crypto firm – and the first since the January … Continue Reading
On 11 February 2021, the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) published issuance and technical infrastructure models for its recently announced verifiable LEI (vLEI) system. A vLEI is a secure digital attestation of a conventional LEI. When fully developed, the vLEI will enable instant and automated identity verification between counterparties operating across all industry sectors, … Continue Reading
Senior management and boards are increasingly acknowledging the threat of financial crime as a critical risk to their business that must be addressed. This has been exacerbated in the last 12 months through the impact of the pandemic as well as rising domestic and international tensions. Our financial crime compliance specialists, located in the UK, … Continue Reading
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
In this series of blogposts, we explore some of the main types of decentralised finance (DeFi) applications (dApps), and key areas of legal risk that may be of particular relevance for that type of application or product. In this second blogpost in the series, we consider the nature of tokenised insurance or alternative risk coverage … Continue Reading
Is the token holder – often the holder of some sort of digital currency – always free to choose which branch of the fork to take? A blockchain is often thought of as a record of a single continuous sequential series of transactions, but sometimes the chain can branch off into a new direction from … Continue Reading
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
On September 24, 2020 the European Commission published its long-anticipated Digital Finance package, comprising legislative proposals and non-legislative communications. One of the legislative proposals published included a draft regulation on markets in crypto-assets (MiCA). MiCA is the first European-level legislative initiative aiming to introduce a harmonized and comprehensive framework for the issuance, application and provision … Continue Reading
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
On 19 October 2020, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) published a toolkit of effective practices for financial institutions’ cyber incident response and recovery (CIRR). The toolkit draws on the feedback from a public consultation process, including four virtual outreach meetings. The report was delivered to G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors for their October … Continue Reading
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
In a much-anticipated decision with important implications for the cryptocurrency industry, a second New York federal judge has now ruled that an offeror’s use of a two-stage “Simple Agreement for Future Tokens” or “SAFT” structure for issuing cryptocurrency tokens will not suffice to exempt the offering from the reach of US securities law. In this … Continue Reading
On 13 October 2020, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) published the final version of its high-level recommendations for the regulation, supervision and oversight of “global stablecoin” (GSC) arrangements following an earlier public consultation. The report states that GSC arrangements are expected to adhere to all applicable regulatory standards and to address risks to financial stability … Continue Reading
On 9 October 2020, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) published a report, Central bank digital currencies: foundational principles and core features. The report was compiled by the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank, the Federal Reserve, Sveriges Riksbank, the Swiss National Bank and the BIS. … Continue Reading
On 9 October 2020, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) published a report on the use of supervisory (SupTech) and regulatory (RegTech) technology by FSB members and regulated institutions. The report notes that SupTech and RegTech tools could have important benefits for financial stability. For authorities, the use of SupTech could improve oversight, surveillance and analytical … Continue Reading
In this series of blogposts, we explore some of the main types of decentralised finance applications and key areas of legal risk that may be of particular relevance for that type of application or product. In this first blogpost, we consider the nature of decentralised finance itself. What is DeFi? Decentralised finance (or DeFi) is … Continue Reading
In September 2020, SWIFT (a global member-owned cooperative and provider of secure financial messaging services) published a report to support market participants in understanding the money laundering techniques which underpin large-scale cyber-attacks. The report sets out the end-to-end journey commonly used by criminals to launder funds obtained through illicit cyber-crime related activities, and focusses on … Continue Reading
On 21 August 2020, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) published a speech by Benoît Cœuré, Head of the BIS Innovation Hub, which focussed on the main challenges to the development of reg tech and sup tech in the financial services sector. Cœuré begins by describing the differences between reg and sup tech – namely … Continue Reading
