RBA – FinTech and Blockchain Law Watch

ASX Takes First Steps in introducing its Blockchain-Based Replacement to CHESS

May 09 2019

By Jim Bulling, Felix Charlesworth and Andrew Fay

On 30 April 2019, Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) released the first of seven “drops” of software code into the “Customer Development Environment”. This marks the beginning of the introduction of the new equities clearing and settlement system, which ASX is developing to replace the existing CHESS system. The new system is based on distributed ledger technology (DLT) and promises to provide customers with access to real-time, synchronised, source-of-truth data.

Australian Council of Financial Regulators consults on changes to Stored-Value Facilities Regulation

Sep 24 2018

By Jim Bulling, Felix Charlesworth and Edwin Tan

The Australian Council of Financial Regulators (CFR) today published an Issues Paper reviewing the regulatory regime of stored-value facilities including purchased payment facilities (PPFs). The CFR comprises regulators such as APRA, ASIC and the RBA.

PPFs enable funds to be stored for the purpose of making future payments and include mobile wallet services and prepaid cards. PPF providers must be licensed and supervised by APRA or otherwise rely on an exemption from complying with the legislative requirements. The RBA has declared several class exemptions for PPFs, including the “limited-value facilities” exemption for PPFs with payment obligations of $10 million or under.

To date, PayPal is the only entity licensed and supervised by APRA as a PPF provider and only one entity has obtained individual exemption from the RBA. These results support arguments that the current framework is too complicated, deters potential new entrants and imposes significant compliance costs.

RBA: accessibility, security and resilience are key to the future of retail payment systems in Australia

Jul 11 2018

By Jim Bulling and Felix Charlesworth

The Assistant Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), Michele Bullock, delivered a speech at the Bund Fintech Summit in Shanghai on the developments in the retail payments industry and the potential implications these pose for regulators.

BritCoin vs BitCoin: Central banks stepping into the digital currency arena

Jul 29 2016

By Jim Bulling and Michelle Chasser

Certain governments around the world are exploring the possibility of central bank issued digital currencies using distributed ledger technology (DLT) which could compete with private digital currency systems such as BitCoin.

Following the release of the Bank of England’s (BofE) paper on central bank issued digital currencies, the Deputy governor of monetary policy appeared before the House of Lords’ Economic Affairs Committee to discuss the effect ‘BritCoin’ would have on the economy. The BofE has previously raised the possibilities of using BritCoin for retail transfers and issuing interest bearing accounts or ‘wallets’ to hold BritCoins.

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