FinTech Industry & Regulation – Page 17 – FinTech and Blockchain Law Watch

New York Attorney General Launches Fact-Finding Mission into Virtual Currency Exchanges; Exchanges Divided on Response

Apr 19 2018

The Investor Protection Bureau of the New York Office of the Attorney General (Bureau) has established the “Virtual Markets Integrity Initiative,” which the Bureau describes as a “fact-finding inquiry into the policies and practices” of virtual currency exchanges. The Bureau launched the initiative “to increase transparency and accountability in the virtual currency marketplace—and better inform the actions of enforcement agencies, investors, and consumers in this space.”

6 ways for FinTechs to build trust: a regulator’s view

Apr 17 2018

By Michelle Chasser and Jim Bulling

In a recent speech on building trust, Australian Securities and Investments Commission Chair, James Shipton, identified 6 key characteristics that financial service providers, including FinTech companies, should have to ensure that the Australian financial system is efficient, resilient and fair. Those characteristics are:

Financial products that the FinTech company provides do what they say they will and don’t take advantage of consumer biases or lack of knowledge about the product.
Consumers’ interests are prioritised and put before the FinTech company’s.
The FinTech company acts with integrity and fairness, not just in compliance with the law but also taking into account community expectations and standards.
Mistakes and misconduct are quickly identified, reported and rectified.
Open engagement and cooperation with regulators not only about problems but also in relation to business challenges and risks.
Being innovative and using technology to improve products and services to deliver better outcomes for consumers. Although by their very nature FinTech companies are innovative and use technology, an effort should be made to constantly improve outcomes for consumers and not adopt a ‘set and forget’ mindset.

How many of these characteristics do you demonstrate?

IOT Group to set up blockchain centre in the Australian energy sphere

Apr 12 2018

By Cameron Abbott and Sarah Goegan

Technology company IOT Group announced this week that it has signed an Australian first energy and blockchain deal. In the agreement with Hunter Energy, IOT Blockchain will build a blockchain centre at the Redbank coal-fired power station in the Hunter Valley, two hours north of Sydney.

Senior English Judge Comments on FinTech

Apr 11 2018

By Jonathan Lawrence

In a recent speech, one of England’s most senior judges explored, in the context of the digital revolution, the culture of and relationship between the UK financial services sector, the UK legal profession, and the judiciary in a changing technological environment. Sir Geoffrey Vos, Chancellor of the High Court, gave the Banking Standards Board Lecture on 20 March.

Hope for Regulatory Relief on the Horizon? State Regulators to Standardize Licensing Process for Money Transmitters

Mar 27 2018

By Eric A. Love and Judith Rinearson

The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) recently announced that seven states, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Texas and Washington, have agreed to a multi-state compact (the Compact) that will standardize certain aspects of the licensing process for money services businesses (MSBs).

Increasing FinTech regulatory ties between Australia and the UK

Mar 27 2018

By Jim Bulling and Michelle Chasser

Australia and the UK have strengthened their joint support of the FinTech industry by entering into two new arrangements which build on the original FinTech cooperation agreement entered into by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in March 2016.

The Australian and UK Governments have entered into the UK-Australia FinTech Bridge which establishes a framework for individual arrangements involving governments, regulators, trade and investment, and business. A number of understandings were agreed to including:

investigating options for developing complementarity between the UK and Australian open banking regimes;
continuing to develop a set of international standards for blockchain applications; and
exploring opportunities to enable quicker processing of licences for firms already licensed in the other jurisdiction.

UK FCA Lead on Global Sandbox

Mar 20 2018

By Jonathan Lawrence

In a speech to Innovate Finance 2018 on 19 March, Christopher Woolard, Executive Director of Strategy and Competition at the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) talked about the demand from FinTech firms to operate internationally and the FCA working with partners from around the world to consider options for a global sandbox. He said that the potential of such a project is huge – from solving global problems like money laundering to reducing the regulatory burden of compliance. Currently there is no joint sandbox programme with other regulators for firms to participate in. Such a project represents new territory.

U.S. Treasury Official Previews Report on FinTech Regulation

Mar 09 2018

By Eric A. Love

According to press reports, Craig Phillips, Counselor to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury), recently delivered remarks at a conference held by the Institute of International Bankers in which he previewed the upcoming Treasury report about possible reforms to the laws and regulations that apply to non-bank financial institutions and FinTech companies. It will be the fourth and final report that Treasury is required by Executive Order 13772 to release about ways to reform the U.S. financial system, consistent with the Trump Administration’s principles of regulation.

Australian Open Banking Developments

Feb 09 2018

By Jim Bulling and Edwin Tan

The Australian Government has today released a report into Open Banking in Australia that sets out recommendations in relation to the method of implementation and proposed timelines. Some key points are:

the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) should be primarily responsible for overseeing standards-setting and accreditation, assisted by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner for privacy issues;
the obligation to share data should apply to all Australian Deposit-taking Institutions (ADIs) as well as reciprocally for other participating entities;
all ADIs should be automatically accredited to receive data. A risk-based accreditation standard should be used for non-ADIs (this would include most FinTech startups, for example);
the use of Application Programming Interfaces to facilitate data sharing; and
mandatory implementation of “read-only” access should be approximately 12 months from a final Government decision to implement Open Banking for the big 4 banks, with a further 12 months transitory period for other banks.

Category:FinTech Industry & Regulation