While the payments industry scrambles to meet new standards for APIs, the FCA grants an extension for SCA compliance. By Christian F. McDermott, Jagveen Tyndall, and Amy Smyth In an effort to evaluate the readiness of banks to comply with the revised EU Payment Services Directive (PSD2), Tink, a banking platform and data provider, has … Continue Reading
Stripe-commissioned report projects that Europe’s online economy risks losing €57 billion when SCA goes into effect on 14 September. By Christian F. McDermott A recent report released by 451 Research and commissioned by Stripe, the online payment processing business, has found poor levels of readiness for the requirements of Strong Customer Authentication (SCA). The report … Continue Reading
The paper discusses supervision and regulatory issues of cryptocurrencies, and finds that a central bank digital currency in the EU is not (yet) warranted. By Max von Cube In May, the European Central Bank’s Crypto-Assets Task Force published a paper on cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ether, and Ripple (referred to as narrowly defined “crypto-assets”). The … Continue Reading
Federal court allows NYSDFS lawsuit against OCC FinTech charter to proceed, raising further questions about the charter’s viability. By Alan W. Avery, Todd Beauchamp, Loyal T. Horsley, Pia Naib, and Charles Weinstein In a May 2 order, US District Court Judge Victor Marrero rejected the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC’s) recent motion … Continue Reading
UK publishes White Paper with hard-hitting regulatory proposals to tackle online harms. By Alain Traill, Stuart Davis, Andrew Moyle, Deborah Kirk and Gail Crawford On 8 April 2019, the Home Office and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) published an “Online Harms White Paper”, proposing a new compliance and enforcement regime intended to … Continue Reading
The HKMA has issued three virtual banking licenses as part of its broader initiatives to develop the local banking industry. By Simon Hawkins and Kenneth Hui The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) recently announced the issuance of the first virtual banking licenses to three entities. Virtual banks in Hong Kong are banks that primarily deliver … Continue Reading
International perspectives on regulatory developments impacting innovation in financial services. Approximately 100 financial institutions and emerging companies recently convened in London for a forum on regulatory developments and other considerations that will impact innovation in financial services this year. The Latham-sponsored event — “From Geek to Chic: The Rapid Evolution of Payments and Cryptocurrencies and … Continue Reading
Industry leaders outline best practices for digital advice platforms at compliance seminar. By Stephen P. Wink and Naim Culhaci Robo-advisers, or digital advice platforms, have rapidly become a standard part of financial services offerings. Virtually every incumbent retail brokerage firm either has established or is planning to establish a digital advice platform, joining the pure … Continue Reading
The guidelines create new obligations for financial, payment, and electronic money institutions that will impact cloud outsourcing and deployment of FinTech. By Fiona M. Maclean and Laura Holden On 25 February 2019, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published a final report on its draft guidelines on outsourcing arrangements (Guidelines). The report followed the EBA’s publication … Continue Reading
FCA teams up with other regulators to advance its idea of creating a global regulatory sandbox. By Stuart Davis, Gabriel Lakeman, Sam Maxson, Brett Carr and Charlotte Collins The FCA, along with several other financial services regulators, has launched a consultation on the operating framework for a Global Financial Innovation Network (GFIN). This is an … Continue Reading
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 … Continue Reading
The FCA has outlined its approach to implementing key standards under the revised Payment Services Directive. By Christian McDermott, Stuart Davis, Brett Carr, and Charlotte Collins The FCA has published a statement on its website relating to the European Banking Authority’s (EBA’s) Opinion and draft Guidelines of 13 June 2018 on the Regulatory Technical Standards … Continue Reading
Many auto advisers and automated discretionary investment managers risk poor outcomes for customers by falling short of FCA expectations. By Nicola Higgs and Brett Carr The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a statement outlining its expectations of firms providing automated online discretionary investment management (ODIM) services and retail investment auto advisers (auto advisors). The … Continue Reading
The Strategy emphasises the UK government’s continued push to create a world-leading FinTech sector. By Stuart Davis, Charlotte Collins and Sam Wong At the second International Fintech Conference held on 22 March 2018, Philip Hammond, Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced the launch of the UK’s first Fintech Sector Strategy. The Strategy includes the following key … Continue Reading
The FCA seeks industry feedback to capitalise on global regulatory sandbox trend. By Stuart Davis and Charlotte Collins The regulatory sandbox was pioneered by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) back in November 2015 — a “safe space” in which businesses can test innovative products, services, business models, and delivery mechanisms without immediately incurring all the … Continue Reading
By Stuart Davis and Charlotte Collins Following on from the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA’s) consumer warning on Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) in September, the FCA has announced a deeper examination of this area in its Feedback Statement on Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and related press release. The FCA stated that it will consider whether regulatory … Continue Reading
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 … Continue Reading
By Andrew Moyle, Stuart Davis, and Charlotte Collins On 15 November 2017, the European Central Bank (ECB) published a newsletter containing an article on how the ECB is dealing with the increasing number of fintech bank applications. The ECB is the banking supervisor, alongside national regulators, for all “significant” banks authorised in Eurozone countries. As … Continue Reading
