By Jeremy M. McLaughlin and Brenden R. Chainey
On November 30, Alaska amended its money transmitter regulations to, among other things, include virtual currency transactions within the definition of money transmission. With this new change (effective January 1, 2023), companies engaged in money transmission involving virtual currency will be required to obtain a money transmission license.
Read MoreBy Jeremy McLaughlin and John Reveal
On June 24, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution to overturn the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (“OCC”) “true lender” regulation that had been finalized on October 30, 2020. This resolution revives the uncertainty regarding the enforceability of loan terms when a national bank or federal savings association assigns loans to third parties. President Biden is expected to sign the resolution.
Read MoreBy Kai Zhang, Philip Morgan and Judie Rinearson
The EU Cross-Border Payments Regulation 924/2009 (as amended by Regulation 2019/518) (EU CBPR) has been “onshored” with significant changes into UK law following the end of the Brexit transition period (i.e., since 1 January 2021). The EU CBPR applied directly in the UK until 31 December 2020. Essentially, the onshored UK CBPR regime only retains the transparency requirements on currency conversion charges under the EU CBPR. This means that UK payment service providers (PSPs) no longer have to comply with other requirements under the EU CBPR.
Read MoreBy Eric A. Love and Judith E. Rinearson
On May 25, 2018, South Carolina’s money transmitter licensing law, the South Carolina Anti-Money Laundering Act, and its implementing regulations (collectively, the “Act”) became effective.
This means that the newly established Money Services Division (the “Division”) within the SC Attorney General’s Office is now accepting applications for licensure to engage in money transmission and currency exchange in that state. Entities that were engaging in such activities in South Carolina as of May 25 had until June 29, 2018 to submit an application. After submission, such entities were able to continue operating while their applications were being reviewed.
By Susan Altman
Four important players have just added their heft to efforts of Swiss bank UBS to develop a system to enable financial markets to make payments and settle transactions quicker and at lower cost using blockchain technology reports Reuters. Swiss bank UBS launched a “Utility Settlement Coin” (USC) as a digital cash equivalent of each of the major currencies backed by central banks last year. Although the USC concept lacks a snappy name like bitcoin, the USC is fully backed by cash assets at a central bank, the lack of that backing being the major weakness of the decentralized bitcoin currency. UBS and its technology platform provider, Clearmatics Technologies, have now been joined by BNY Mellon, Deutsche Bank, Santander and markets operator ICAP in further developing the potential of the USC. The USC initiative is an opportunity for industry thought leaders to explore the possibilities of the digital cash technology through a series of short iterative phases and platform deployments increasing the number of market participants, broadening engagement, connectivity and network effect, according to ICAP. The group intends to have active dialogue with central banks and regulators to ensure a robust and efficient regulatory structure within which the USC can be deployed. The participants expect that the USC will unlock the benefits of distributive technology to the financial industry and ultimately, to customers, including by lowering costs and increasing transaction security.
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