By: Jeremy McLaughlin and Joshua Durham
On 2 October 2024, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI), issued draft proposed rules to implement the state’s new cryptocurrency licensing regime, the Digital Financial Assets Law (DFAL). DFPI is seeking comments on the proposed rules and set a deadline of 18 November 2024.
Read MoreBy: Jeremy McLaughlin and Joshua Durham
Effective July 2024, Vermont rehauled its money transmission law, joining the other states (approximately half) that have enacted some or all of the Money Transmission Modernization Act (MTMA). In doing so, Vermont furthers a trend of states expanding their regulators’ purview over the virtual currency industry.
Read MoreBy: Kai Zhang and Judie Rinearson
Authorized push payment frauds (APP fraud) happen where one is tricked into sending money to a fraudster posing as a genuine payee. Currently some protection is provided to UK victims via a voluntary industry code. However, this has been considered insufficient. So now a new mandatory reimbursement regime is coming, from 7 October 2024.
Read MoreBy: Jeremy McLaughlin, Greg Blase, Andrew Glass, and Josh Durham
The Supreme Court issued two decisions at the end of its term that will significantly alter how federal courts review challenges to federal regulations. The decisions could have a significant impact on the highly regulated payments industry.
Read MoreBy: Andrew Hinkes and Judie Rinearson
Much has been written about the effort it takes to have a new app approved by the Apple App Store. With good reason, Apple’s strict approval process ensures quality and maintains the standards of its ecosystem. As Apple itself reports, in 2023 it “rejected more than 1.7 million app submissions for failing to meet the App Store’s stringent standards for privacy, security, and content.”1 An article from Decode about the top reasons for an Apple rejection2 included the usual tech-related problems: The app is low quality; there are broken links; lots of bugs and crashes; etc.
Read MoreBy: Dr. Jan Boeing and Tanner Wonnacott
MiCA Update
The Regulation on Markets in Crypto-assets (MiCA)1 is part of the European Commission’s Digital Finance Package of September 2020, which includes other regulatory initiatives, such as the Pilot Regime for market infrastructures based on distributed ledger technology2 and the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA).3
Read MoreBy: Dan Knight and Ben Kneebush
On 12 March 2024, the Australian Treasury released for consultation an exposure draft legislative package that proposes to amend the current regulatory framework to regulate low cost credit contracts (LCCCs), including Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) arrangements and other types of credit contracts. These changes are designed to be flexible, adaptable and proportionate to the risk of consumer harm.
Read MoreBy: Jeremy McLaughlin and Joshua Durham
Hawaii has long been a thorn in the side of crypto companies. That thorn has finally been removed: on 25 January 2024, the Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs issued a press release summarizing its findings on the proper regulatory framework for cryptocurrency—its conclusion is that it will not apply the state’s money transmitter law to cryptocurrency activities. Hawaii initially worked with cryptocurrency companies to create an alternative licensing framework, but was ultimately unable to conceive of an adequate digital asset license.
Read MoreBy Jeremy McLaughlin, Andrew Hinkes, and Josh Durham
Yesterday the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that, according to the agency, aims to “crack down on [fintech] regulatory arbitrage by ensuring large technology firms and other nonbank payment providers are subjected to appropriate oversight.”
Read MoreBy Jay Lee and Beatrice Wun
Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEx) recently launched “HKEx Synapse” (Synapse), a new blockchain-based settlement platform to complement the existing post-trade infrastructure for Northbound Stock Connect. “Stock Connect” in Hong Kong refers to a market access program through which investors in Mainland China and Hong Kong can trade and settle shares listed on the other market via exchanges and clearing houses in the home market. “Northbound Stock Connect” refers to the market access program where investors in Hong Kong can have access to shares in Mainland China.
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