Australia – Page 3 – FinTech and Blockchain Law Watch

Top 5 regulatory changes to watch for in 2018

Jan 10 2018

As one year has drawn to a close it is time to look forward to 2018 and our tips for the most important 5 regulatory changes for the FinTech industry in Australia.

Increased access to bank data.

The Government has announced its intention to introduce an open banking regime in Australia under which customers will have the ability to give third parties such as FinTechs access to the customer’s banking data. Treasury is currently conducting a review into open banking models, with the report which was due at the end 2017 yet to be released.

Also planned to come in to effect by 1 July 2018 is mandatory comprehensive credit reporting which will give lenders access to deeper and richer sets of data on consumers to base their credit decisions on. Comprehensive credit reporting is currently voluntary.

Unresolved risk issues with the proposed open banking reforms

Nov 29 2017

By Jim Bulling, Michelle Chasser and Edwin Tan

The Australian Government has announced its intention to mandate that ADIs provide open access to customer and small business data with a commencement date still to be determined. Treasury has been tasked with undertaking a review of the proposals put forward by the Productivity Commission, and is due to report back to the Government by the end of 2017 as to its recommendations on implementation of the proposals and recommended timeframe.

While everyone is excited about the benefits that will flow from open banking, there have been concerns raised about the security and privacy risks raised by an open banking regime. In relation to privacy, the Productivity Commission has suggested that the solution is to amend the existing Privacy Act to include a new class of protected information known as “consumer data”. However there are significant gaps in the existing Privacy Act that would pose real problems in connection with the protection of customer data. For instance, the Australian Privacy Principles do not apply to small businesses with turnover of less than $3.0m and this may exempt many FinTech players from any privacy obligations.

Australian Government releases proposal for new and improved sandbox

Nov 01 2017

By Michelle Chasser and Felix Charlesworth

On 24 October 2017, the Federal Government released draft legislation and regulations (Draft Bill) enhancing the existing regulatory sandbox for current and emerging FinTech products and services.

This comes almost one year after the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) established a sandbox which granted particular exemptions to FinTech businesses from obtaining an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) and/ or an Australian Credit Licence (ACL) if certain conditions were met.

As projected in the 2017/2017 Federal Budget, the enhanced sandbox will expand the types of permissible activities and testing timeframe beyond the existing sandbox parameters established by ASIC. The purpose of this enhanced sandbox is to further promote Australia’s FinTech capability by supporting start-ups and innovative businesses to develop, test and launch their financial and credit services.

ASIC provides responses to industry feedback on its current and future approaches to RegTech

Oct 18 2017

By Michelle Chasser and Felix Charlesworth

On 15 September 2017, ASIC released its responses to industry feedback on its consultation Report 523 (REP 523). As mentioned in an earlier blog, REP 523 sets out the structure and framework for ASIC’s ‘Innovation Hub’ as well as its current and future approach to regulatory technology (RegTech).

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority’s David Geale on FinTech regulation

Oct 12 2017

By Jim Bulling and Michelle Chasser

On 27 September 2017, Fintech Melbourne in partnership with the UK’s Department for International Trade hosted an event on FinTech regulation with the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Director of Policy David Geale.

Interesting points from the night included:

The FCA has been, and continues to be, actively involved in engaging in dialogue with industry participants, both large firms and smaller start-ups.
As with other global regulators, the FCA is currently focused on blockchain, its potential effect on the market and the FCA’s role. The FCA released a discussion paper on distributed ledger technology earlier this year
The FCA recently issued an initial coin offering consumer alert.
The number of firms applying for the FCA’s regulatory sandbox exceeded initial expectations.
Some of the more interesting concepts that David has seen come through the sandbox put existing technology to a different use such as alternative credit scoring methods (eg using social media) and connected insurance (eg using fitbit data to determine insurance premiums).
Some UK firms have been experimenting with using videos to convey regulatory disclosures.
Digital identity and open banking are areas of interest going forward.

What you need to know about capital raising with ICOs (Business Bytes video)

Sep 28 2017

There is a lot of noise surrounding capital raising with Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and there are updates almost daily from regulators around the globe. For instance, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) released their views on ICOs today (see ‘ASIC releases its guidance on ICOs‘), while China has recently banned this new form of capital raising.

ASIC releases its guidance on ICOs

Sep 28 2017

By Jim Bulling and Felix Charlesworth

On 28 September 2017, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) released Information Sheet 225 which provides its view on initial coin offerings (ICOs) and their application in relation to the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth).

Malaysia signs a series of cooperation agreements

Sep 25 2017

By Jonathan Lawrence

On 14 September the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) announced that it has signed a series of FinTech cooperation agreements with several regulators in major financial centres. The SC has established FinTech bridges with the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). This follows the first agreement signed between the SC and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) in June 2017.

Australian Government seeks consultation on development and implementation of Digital Economy Strategy

Sep 25 2017

By Jim Bulling and Felix Charlesworth

The Federal Government has released a consultation paper entitled ‘The Digital Economy: Opening up the Conversation.‘

The consultation paper invites all interested parties across the private and public sectors to contribute to and assist with the development of the Australian Government’s Digital Economy Strategy (Strategy). The Strategy will be launched mid-way through 2018. The Government estimates that adopting a strategy which embraces the emergence of the digital economy could boost the economy by $140 billion to $250 billion over the next 8 years.

Australian Government to end double taxation on digital currency

Sep 20 2017

By Matthew Cridland

Treasurer Scott Morrison has introduced legislation into the Australian Parliament to remove the double taxation of digital currency.

Tag:Australia