Are You in Control (of a Bank)? The Fed’s Proposed Framework for Presuming Control under the Bank and Savings and Loan Holding Company Acts
By Rebecca H. Laird, Dean A. Brazier and Daniel S. Cohen
On April 23, the Federal Reserve Board (the “FRB”) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPR”) to “simplify and increase the transparency,” while maintaining “consistency” to its determination of whether an entity “controls” a bank or a savings association (collectively, “depository institution”). According to the FRB’s announcement, the NPR is a first draft of a “comprehensive regulatory framework for control determinations.” FinTech companies seeking to become depository institutions should pay close attention to the NPR as it provides clear guidelines for when its investors would become subject to the Bank Holding Company Act (“BHCA”).
Read MoreASX Takes First Steps in introducing its Blockchain-Based Replacement to CHESS
By Jim Bulling, Felix Charlesworth and Andrew Fay
On 30 April 2019, Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) released the first of seven “drops” of software code into the “Customer Development Environment”. This marks the beginning of the introduction of the new equities clearing and settlement system, which ASX is developing to replace the existing CHESS system. The new system is based on distributed ledger technology (DLT) and promises to provide customers with access to real-time, synchronised, source-of-truth data.
Read MoreBank of Canada and Monetary Authority of Singapore jointly publish report on the use of blockchain in making cross-border payments
Jim Bulling and Felix Charlesworth
Two central banks have taken steps to facilitate cross border payments through the use of blockchain. On 1 May 2019, the Bank of Canada (BOC) and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) jointly published a report on their trials of settling tokenised digital currencies across different blockchain platforms (Report).
Read MoreMake cryptocurrency by driving a Jag?! Sign us up
By Cameron Abbott and Allison Wallace
Firstly, no, you don’t have to be an Uber driver driving a Jag to reap the benefit of the car manufacturer’s new innovation.
Jaguar Land Rover has announced it is testing “Smart Wallet” technology that will enable drivers to earn cryptocurrency while driving.
How? Technology embedded in the car will automatically report road condition data, such as traffic congestion and potholes to navigation providers and local authorities, which will earn the car’s driver credits.
The credits can be used to buy coffee, pay tolls and parking tickets – which all sounds pretty handy to us.
Jag has partnered with IOTA Foundation which is providing the “IOTA-powered car wallet” which uses a distributed ledger technology to make and receive payments. It is currently being trialled in Ireland. IOTA forecasts that 75 billion devices will be connected to the Smart Wallet technology by 2025 – we’re pretty excited to see how this unfolds.
CFPB Seeking Comments On Possible Remittance Rule Revisions
By Daniel S. Cohen and Jeremy M. McLaughlin
On April 25th, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB” or “Bureau”) issued a request for information (“RFI”) asking for input about the scope of its Remittance Rule (the “Rule”), whether the Bureau should exempt certain small financial institutions from the Rule, and how the expiration of the Rule’s “temporary exemption” for insured depository institutions and credit unions would adversely affect consumers. Comments are due 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.
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