By: Jay Lee, Natalie Chow and Alvin Lam
Recently, Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) initiated accepting applications for Digital Bond Grant Scheme (the Grant Scheme) to financially support digital bond issuers for the duration of three years. The Grant Scheme aims to encourage broader adoption of “tokenization technology” in capital markets and foster the development of digital securities markets in Hong Kong.
Read MoreBy: Andrew C. Glass, Gregory N. Blase, Jeremy M. McLaughlin, and Joshua L. Durham
On 2 January 2025, Massachusetts went from being one of the least regulated states for money transmission to becoming one of the more highly regulated states. Formerly, only entities engaging in foreign money transmission required licensing. Under the newly enacted Money Transmission Act (Massachusetts MTA) (H4840), covered entities will include any entity that sells or issues payment instruments or stored value, as well as any entity that receives money for transmission from a person located in Massachusetts. Such entities will soon be required to obtain a license from, and will be subject to supervision by, the Massachusetts Division of Banks. In signing the Massachusetts MTA into law, Governor Maura Healey expressed that the law is intended to protect Massachusetts consumers “when transferring money to friends and businesses through payment apps.”
Read MoreBy: Daniel Knight, Ben Kneebush and Madison Jeffreys
On 29 November 2024, the Australian Parliament passed the long-awaited Treasury Laws Amendment (Responsible Buy Now Pay Later and Other Measures) Bill 2024 (Bill).
Read MoreBy: Christopher Valente, Scott Gelbman, and Joshua Durham
Artificial intelligence (AI) remains top of mind for lawmakers and regulators, who continue to grapple with new legislative proposals, as well as a changing regulatory regime designed to prepare the US government to interact with AI-related issues, while also positioning the US to be a leader in AI innovation. In line with 15 USC Ch. 119 and Executive Order 14110, two more bipartisan House bills were just introduced to further the government’s response to AI.
Read MoreBy: Daniel Knight, Simon Kiburg and Ben Kneebush
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) recently released proposed updates to Information Sheet 225 (INFO 225) and a corresponding consultation paper.
Read MoreBy: Daniel Knight, Simon Kiburg, Hugo Chow and Madison Jeffreys
The Australian Treasury released an Exposure Draft on 26 November 2024 (Amending Rules) proposing amendments to the Competition and Consumer (Consumer Data Right) Rules 2020 (CDR Rules). Whilst the government designated the non-bank lending sector as subject to the CDR regime on 21 November 2022 and had released draft rules for consultation last year, the new proposed Amending Rules have taken into account stakeholder feedback and reflects the government’s recent ‘reset’ of the CDR regime.
Read MoreBy: Eden L. Rohrer, Richard F. Kerr, Jessica D. Cohn, and Joshua L. Durham
On 21 November 2024, the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas (Court) ruled against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in two separate cases, vacating its rule which expanded the definition of securities dealers.
Read MoreBy: Daniel Knight, Ben Kneebush and Madison Jeffreys
As Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to be adopted and used by Australian Financial Services (AFS) licensees broadly, there is a risk that the deployment of AI might cause licensees to fall short of their existing regulatory obligations and emerging best practices.
Read MoreBy: Jeremy M. McLaughlin, Grant F. Butler, Andrew C. Glass, Gregory N. Blase, and Joshua L. Durham
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) have jointly issued a request for information (RFI) seeking input on the nature, risks, and implications of bank-fintech partnerships. Accompanying the RFI, the agencies issued a joint statement on banks’ arrangements with third parties to deliver bank deposit products and services (Joint Statement). We will be hosting a webinar on this topic on 10 September (register here), and comments to the RFI are due 30 September.
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.
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