Data Privacy and Cybersecurity

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The SFC’s guidance provides helpful clarity amidst growing interest in security token offerings.

By Simon Hawkins and Kenneth Hui

On 28 March 2019, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) issued a policy statement on security token offerings (STOs) summarizing the legal and regulatory requirements applicable to parties engaging in STOs. This guidance follows the SFC’s 5 September 2017 policy statement on initial coin offerings (ICOs).

STOs typically refer to specific offerings which are structured to have features of traditional securities offerings, and involving security tokens that are digital representations of ownership of assets (e.g., gold or real estate) or economic rights (e.g., a share of profits or revenue) using blockchain technology.

FCA Chair hints that new regulation addressing data ethics in the FinTech space may be on the horizon.

By Nicola Higgs, Fiona Maclean and Terese Saplys

Will societies of the future be ruled by algocracy, in which algorithms decide how humans are governed? Charles Randell, Chair of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Payment Systems Regulator, addressed how to avoid this hypothetical scenario in a broad-ranging speech on that he delivered on 11 July 2018 in London.

Randell’s Remarks

Contributing Factors to an Algocracy

According to Randell, the following three conditions could collectively give rise to a future algocracy:

By Andrew Moyle and Stuart Davis

The UK government’s 2017 Autumn Budget included some measures of particular interest for fintech firms, demonstrating the government’s continued commitment to making the UK a world-leading fintech hub.

The government has provided only scant detail on these measures at present, but no doubt firms will be watching closely to see how they are developed, and what benefits they can bring for the fintech sector.