At the Crossroads of Law, Innovation and Commerce
By: Jay Lee, Natalie Chow, and Alvin Lam
On 29 October 2024, the Hong Kong District Court issued the judgment of the first legal action (Chan Wing Yan and Another v. JP-EX Crypto Asset Platform Ltd and Others [2024] HKDC 1628) against JPEX, which the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission has identified as an unlicensed virtual asset trading platform (VATP).
Read MoreBy: Cheryl L. Isaac, Judith Rinearson, Eden L. Rohrer, and Joshua L. Durham
On 8 October, Crypto.com made two novel, strategic moves to seek regulatory clarity regarding the classification of digital assets. First, the digital asset exchange sued the SEC, claiming that the SEC exceeded its statutory authority with respect to its classification of digital assets as securities without any notice-and-comment rulemaking as required under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). Second, Crypto.com’s affiliate that is a CFTC-registered derivatives exchange petitioned the SEC and CFTC to provide a joint interpretation on how its swap products should be governed by the agencies.
Read MoreBy: Jeremy McLaughlin and Joshua Durham
On 2 October 2024, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI), issued draft proposed rules to implement the state’s new cryptocurrency licensing regime, the Digital Financial Assets Law (DFAL). DFPI is seeking comments on the proposed rules and set a deadline of 18 November 2024.
Read MoreBy: Jeremy M. McLaughlin and Joshua L. Durham
Good news for the cryptocurrency industry. On 29 September 2024, California Governor Gavin Newsom approved Assembly Bill 1934, which extends the time within which digital assets companies must obtain a license to engage in digital financial asset business activity under the Digital Financial Assets Law (DFAL). Entities now have until July 2026 to obtain licensure, which is a year later than originally planned.
Read MoreBy: Jeremy M. McLaughlin, Grant F. Butler, Andrew C. Glass, Gregory N. Blase, and Joshua L. Durham
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) have jointly issued a request for information (RFI) seeking input on the nature, risks, and implications of bank-fintech partnerships. Accompanying the RFI, the agencies issued a joint statement on banks’ arrangements with third parties to deliver bank deposit products and services (Joint Statement). We will be hosting a webinar on this topic on 10 September (register here), and comments to the RFI are due 30 September.
Read MoreBy: Jeremy McLaughlin and Joshua Durham
Effective July 2024, Vermont rehauled its money transmission law, joining the other states (approximately half) that have enacted some or all of the Money Transmission Modernization Act (MTMA). In doing so, Vermont furthers a trend of states expanding their regulators’ purview over the virtual currency industry.
Read MoreBy: Kai Zhang and Judie Rinearson
Authorized push payment frauds (APP fraud) happen where one is tricked into sending money to a fraudster posing as a genuine payee. Currently some protection is provided to UK victims via a voluntary industry code. However, this has been considered insufficient. So now a new mandatory reimbursement regime is coming, from 7 October 2024.
Read MoreBy: Jeremy McLaughlin, Greg Blase, Andrew Glass, and Josh Durham
The Supreme Court issued two decisions at the end of its term that will significantly alter how federal courts review challenges to federal regulations. The decisions could have a significant impact on the highly regulated payments industry.
Read MoreBy: Andrew Hinkes and Judie Rinearson
Much has been written about the effort it takes to have a new app approved by the Apple App Store. With good reason, Apple’s strict approval process ensures quality and maintains the standards of its ecosystem. As Apple itself reports, in 2023 it “rejected more than 1.7 million app submissions for failing to meet the App Store’s stringent standards for privacy, security, and content.”1 An article from Decode about the top reasons for an Apple rejection2 included the usual tech-related problems: The app is low quality; there are broken links; lots of bugs and crashes; etc.
Read MoreBy: Andrew C. Glass, Gregory N. Blase, and Joshua L. Durham
On June 11, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to ban the inclusion of medical bills in consumer credit reports.
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