The latest statements from the government and regulators indicate that Hong Kong is moving forward with enhancing its virtual asset regulatory and legal regime. By Simon Hawkins and Adrian Fong The Hong Kong government and the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) announced their policy stances and further measures to support the development of virtual assets (VA) in … Continue Reading
Hong Kong’s licensing regime for virtual asset service providers to take effect in March 2023. By Simon Hawkins, Adrian Fong, and Shirley Wong On 24 June 2022, the Hong Kong government gazetted the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Bill 2022 (Amendment Bill). The Amendment Bill proposes changes to the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing … Continue Reading
The SFC issued a statement to clarify its regulatory approach in relation to non-fungible tokens and remind investors of related risks. By Simon Hawkins, Farhana Sharmeen, Adrian Fong, Gen Huong Tan and Shirley Wong On 6 June 2022, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) issued a statement drawing attention to the risks associated … Continue Reading
The Court held that software developers do not owe a duty of care to bitcoin owners who lost their private keys. By Christian F. McDermott, Andrew C. Moyle, and Nara Yoo In Tulip Trading Ltd (TTL) v. Bitcoin Association for BSV and others, TTL claimed that personal computers of its CEO, Dr. Craig Wright, were … Continue Reading
Assertive regulators are bringing greater clarity and new challenges as they step up oversight of fintech innovation. By Stuart Davis, Tom D. Evans, Nicola Higgs, Christian F. McDermott, David J. Walker, Brett Carr, Catherine Campbell, and Charlotte Collins As the fast-growing fintech industry thrives, the sector has begun to attract greater regulatory scrutiny. We expect new legal and regulatory focus and oversight of … Continue Reading
The report, from UK Finance, The Payments Association, and Latham & Watkins, urges fresh thinking about regulating payments in the growing digital economy. By Stuart Davis and Brett Carr UK Finance, The Payments Association, and Latham & Watkins have published UK Payments Regulation Review: Making sense of where to go now, a new report examining regulation … Continue Reading
The HKMA’s discussion paper seeks feedback on its proposed regulatory approach to stablecoins, with responses due by 31 March 2022. By Simon Hawkins and Adrian Fong On 12 January 2022, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), Hong Kong’s principal regulator for banks and payment systems, published a discussion paper seeking the public’s views on its … Continue Reading
The guidelines set out the MAS’ expectation that digital payment token service providers should not promote their services to the general public in Singapore. By Simon Hawkins, Farhana Sharmeen, and Tan Gen Huong On 17 January 2022, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (the MAS) issued new guidelines (the Guidelines) setting out restrictions on the promotion … Continue Reading
NFT creators should craft strategies to avoid minting or auctioning NFTs that use the likeness of an individual without their consent. By Ghaith Mahmood, Nima H. Mohebbi, and Tara McCortney As non-fungible tokens (NFTs) increase in popularity, the so-called common law “right of publicity” may create additional legal risks for NFT minters. The common law … Continue Reading
Gary Gensler asserts the SEC’s broad powers over digital assets, and puts consumer protection at the forefront. By Stephen P. Wink, Adam Zuckerman, and Deric Behar On August 3, 2021, Gary Gensler, chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), gave a speech on the digital asset industry. The speech offered some indication of … Continue Reading
A new Executive Order could help open the door for the portability of consumer financial data. By Charles Weinstein and Deric Behar Definitive regulation for open banking may be on the horizon in the US. On July 9, 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy (the Order), which … Continue Reading
A new Payments Charter could enable entities to engage in payments-related activities on a nationwide basis, rather than by state. By Alan W. Avery, Todd Beauchamp, Pia Naib, Loyal T. Horsley, and Charles Weinstein The US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) newly appointed Acting Comptroller, Brian P. Brooks, is already advancing the … Continue Reading
MAS confirms regulatory approach for derivative contracts on payment tokens. By Farhana Sharmeen and Marc Jia Renn Tan On 15 May 2020, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (the MAS) issued its response to feedback about its proposed regulatory approach for derivative contracts that reference payment tokens as underlying assets (Payment Token Derivatives), confirming that it … Continue Reading
The report encourages the G20 to consider a broad set of supervisory principles when evaluating global stablecoin arrangements. By Todd Beauchamp, Stuart Davis, Christian F. McDermott, Yvette D. Valdez, Stephen P. Wink, Simon Hawkins, and Deric Behar On April 14, 2020, the G20’s Financial Stability Board (FSB) published a consultation on the regulation, supervision, and … Continue Reading
The final guidelines create new obligations for insurers that will impact cloud outsourcing arrangements. By Fiona M. Maclean, Andrew C. Moyle, and Victoria Sander On 6 February 2020, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) published its final guidelines on outsourcing to cloud service providers (CSPs) (the Guidelines). The Guidelines have been finalised following … Continue Reading
Latham derivatives and FinTech partner Yvette Valdez explores regulatory issues impacting cryptocurrency derivatives on the Fintech Beat podcast. By Yvette D. Valdez New York partner Yvette Valdez, a member of Latham & Watkins’ FinTech Industry Group, recently discussed timely issues at the intersection of cryptoassets and derivatives law on a new episode of Fintech Beat. … Continue Reading
The FinTech sandbox would aim to foster innovation in the financial, credit, and insurance sectors. By Antonio Coletti and Isabella Porchia The Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance has launched a public consultation on a draft ministerial decree (Draft Decree) implementing the mandate received by the Italian legislature (Decreto Crescita) to set up a regulatory … Continue Reading
The FCA is considering whether alternative data could introduce new risks to market integrity. By Rob Moulton, Fiona Maclean, Stuart Davis, and Charlotte Collins The FCA’s recently published Insight article explores how alternative data might give rise to market abuse risks. The article reports a significant increase in spending on alternative data in recent years, … Continue Reading
CBDCs will have a profound effect on the financial markets, and policy-makers must thoroughly consider the complex legal and regulatory issues. By Stuart Davis, Andrew Moyle, and Simon Hawkins Latham & Watkins lawyers are pleased to have contributed to the World Economic Forum’s CBDC Policy-Maker Toolkit. This resource is designed to provide a high-level decision … Continue Reading
In two recent articles, Latham & Watkins lawyers examine the SEC’s guidance on the application of securities regulations to digital assets and the questions that remain unanswered. By Stephen P. Wink, Witold Balaban, John J. Sikora, Miles P. Jennings, Emanuel V. Francone, Cameron R. Kates, and Shaun Musuka Digital Asset Regulation: Howey Evolves In this … Continue Reading
New regulatory requirements, including registration and customer disclosure requirements, apply to regulated and unregulated persons carrying on relevant cryptoasset business. By Stuart Davis and Sam Maxson On 20 December 2019, the UK government published the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Regulations (Amendment) Regulations 2019 (the Amending Regulations). The Amending Regulations update the Money Laundering, Terrorist … Continue Reading
It was a year filled with tantalizing tidbits and many loose ends. By Stephen P. Wink, Cameron R. Kates, Shaun Musuka, and Deric Behar 2019 marked the 10th year since blockchain technology was released into the wild by its still unknown inventor, Satoshi Nakamoto, who mined the first bitcoin block in January 2009. In the … Continue Reading
The EC consults on existing cryptoasset regulatory framework and considers a separate EU framework for cryptoassets outside the current scope. By Stuart Davis On 19 December 2019, the European Commission (EC) launched a public consultation to review the suitability and effectiveness of the current EU regulatory framework applicable to cryptoassets. The consultation will examine cryptoassets … Continue Reading
The US agency has used a no-action letter to enable a sandbox-like approach to blockchain-based trade settlements. By Stephen P. Wink, Cameron R. Kates, Shaun Musuka, and Deric Behar In what may be the first regulator-approved application of blockchain technology for the settlement of US equities trades, the Division of Trading and Markets of the … Continue Reading
