Matt Goffe | FinTech and Blockchain Law Watch

K&L Gates Adds Leading FinTech Partners

Jul 28 2016

Global law firm K&L Gates welcomes Judith Rinearson and Linda C. Odom as partners in the firm’s FinTech and Consumer Financial Services practices. Rinearson joins K&L Gates’ New York and London offices, and Odom, joins the Washington, D.C. office. “Judie Rinearson and Linda Odom are highly respected authorities in numerous key regulatory and commercial areas within the FinTech ecosystem,” stated Robert Zinn, co-leader of K&L Gates’ global corporate and transactional practice area as well as of the firm’s market-leading global FinTech practice.

To read our full press release please click here.

CFPB Takes Aim at Marketplace Lenders

May 16 2016

By David Christensen

Last Fall, in its 2015 Rulemaking Agenda, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) signaled its intent to “to develop rules to define larger participants in markets for consumer installment loans.”[1] Under the Dodd-Frank Act, the CFPB is authorized to issue “larger participant” rules to define entities in a particular market for consumer financial products or services. The issuance of such rules opens the door for supervisory and examination authority over such entities. Fast forward to Spring 2016, when the CFPB announced that it is accepting complaints from consumers regarding alleged problems with online marketplace loans, and it appears that the CFPB has marketplace lenders squarely in its sights.[2]

EU Fintech developments

Apr 19 2016

By Jacob Ghanty

In the linked article, Jacob Ghanty discusses some UK and EU regulatory developments affecting the FinTech sector. This article was first published on Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence on 1 April 2016.

EU Oversight on payments

Apr 18 2016

By Jacob Ghanty

The second EU Payment Services Directive is set to change the banking landscape in Europe. In the linked article, Jacob Ghanty describes some of the changes that PSD2 will bring about. This article was first published in inCOMPLIANCE, member publication of the International Compliance Association www.int-comp.org.

FCA Encouragement for Roboadvice

Apr 18 2016

By Jacob Ghanty

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority published its final report on the Financial Advice Market Review on 14 March, which stated that there is a “clear need for intervention by the regulator and the government” to aid the provision of new and more cost-effective ways of delivering financial advice and guidance. The FAMR sets out recommendations to address concerns relating to the affordability and accessibility of financial advice, which includes recommendations to help firms develop automated “robo-advice” models. In the linked article, first published in E-Finance & Payments Law & Policy, Jacob Ghanty expresses his views on robo-advice developments.

PREPAID ACCESS GARNERS REGULATORY ATTENTION

Mar 25 2016

By Sean Mahoney

Bank regulators are paying more attention to the role of banks in the prepaid card industry as evidenced by their new guidance on the applicability of know your customer requirements and proposed regulations on record-keeping with respect to master deposit accounts for prepaid cards and other products utilizing “pass-through” deposit insurance.

To learn more about the Interagency Guidance to Issuing Banks on Applying Customer Identification Program Requirements to Holders of Prepaid Cards, which provides a framework to determine whether or not a bank must apply its customer information program to holders of prepaid products for which the bank is the issuer, please visit our Consumer Financial Services Watch Blog at Prepaid Access Garners Regulatory Attention.

Author - Matt Goffe