June 2023 – FinTech and Blockchain Law Watch

Australia: Payments Reform – Generational Change Coming

Jun 19 2023

Earlier this month the government released a raft of documents on the future of payments regulation in Australia. These documents are:

A Strategic Plan for Australia’s Payments System – “Strategic Plan” (available at: https://treasury.gov.au/publication/p2023-404960)
the Payments System Modernisation (Licensing: Defining Payment Functions) – “Consultation Paper” (available at: https://treasury.gov.au/consultation/c2023-403207)
the Reforms to the Payments Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 Consultation Paper – “PSRA Consultation” (available at: https://treasury.gov.au/consultation/c2023-403206)

In this Blog Post we take a deeper look at some of the key proposals from the Consultation Papers and what they will mean for operators in the payments ecosystem.

Australia: Regulating AI in Australia – emerging issues

Jun 16 2023

By Daniel Knight, Cameron Abbott, Rob Pulham, Dadar Ahmadi-Pirshahid

Amid global calls for tailored regulation of artificial intelligence tools, the Australia Federal Government has released a discussion paper on the safe and responsible use of AI. The Government is consulting on what safeguards are needed to ensure Australia has an appropriate regulatory and governance framework.

SEC’s Stunning Enforcement Actions against Binance and Coinbase

Jun 07 2023

By Drew Hinkes, Cliff Histed, Judie Rinearson, Eden Rohrer, Max Black

In a stunning move, over the last two days, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has filed back-to-back enforcement actions against major crypto exchanges Binance (See https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/complaints/2023/comp-pr2023-101.pdf) and Coinbase (See https://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2023/comp-pr2023-102.pdf . This clearly indicates that the SEC is flexing its enforcement power over both international exchanges as well as those exchanges with a focus on the United States.

Australia: Expanding AML requirements for digital currency exchanges

Jun 07 2023

By Daniel Knight and Grace Hall

The Australian Government has committed to reforming Australia’s AML/CTF regime, with proposed reforms set to impact digital currency exchange (DCE) providers.

CFPB Raises Alarms Without Providing All the Facts

Jun 05 2023

By Judie Rinearson and Jeremy McLaughlin

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) recent Consumer Alert was certainly well intentioned. Many consumers (including the authors) who hold funds in payment apps (such as Venmo and Paypal) should be made aware that the funds are usually NOT held in an FDIC-insured bank. But that doesn’t mean the funds are necessarily unprotected.

Archive:June 2023