22 July 2019

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Welcome to this week's global fintech round-up, summarising fintech regulatory developments that have happened around the world along with our Clifford Chance fintech publications and upcoming events.

Details of these and previous developments can also be found on our Fintech Topic Guide on the Clifford Chance Financial Markets Toolkit.

Please click here to subscribe to future editions of the round-up.

CLIFFORD CHANCE PUBLICATIONS AND MATERIALS

(19 Jul 2019) Talking Tech article – A vision for the future of the UK financial system: the van Steenis report

(18 Jul 2019) Talking Tech article – The Information Commissioner's Office draft data sharing code – M&A and ethical considerations

(16 Jul 2019) Talking Tech article by Clifford Chance alumnus, Nikita Aggarwal – Big Data and the obsolescence of consumer credit reports: Managing your financial identity in the modern world

(12 Jul 2019) Clifford Chance briefing – France leads the way with a dedicated legal regime for digital assets and ICOs

(11 Jul 2019) Clifford Chance report (in collaboration with the Luxembourg House of Financial Technologies (LHoFT) and a number of other Luxembourg law firms) – A guide through the common features of digital asset generating events

 

SPOTLIGHT

GDPR gets serious - two potential record breaking fines in two days

The UK privacy regulator, the Information Commissioner's Office,  has proposed unprecedented fines against British Airways and Marriott International for data breaches – how should businesses respond?

GLOBAL LEGAL AND REGULATORY UPDATES

International

• (18 Jul 2019) G7 working group on stablecoins update setting out some key considerations and recommendations for stablecoin initiatives
• (15 Jul 2019) International Monetary Fund (IMF) paper on the rise of digital money and its effect on the banking sector | Summary

Africa

Kenya:

• (17 Jul 2019) The Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Central Bank of Kenya have signed a fintech cooperation agreement to develop digital infrastructure in Kenya and to facilitate collaboration between financial institutions in both countries on innovative projects | Press release | See our table of fintech cooperation agreements for more information and a full list of international agreements.

Americas

Canada:       

• (13 Jul 2019) Canadian Securities Administrators business plan for 2019 to 2022, which includes plans to consider regulatory amendments to address the challenges posed by cryptoassets and distributed ledger technology

US:  

• (15 Jul 2019) Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, speech on regulatory issues associated with cryptocurrency and the work the Treasury has undertaken to address them
• (15/16 Jul 2019) Congress Committees hearings on Facebook's Libra project:
  • House Committee on Financial Services hearing on Libra and its impact on consumers, investors and the US financial system (includes webcast and written testimony)
  • Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs hearing on Libra and data privacy considerations (includes webcast and statements from Committee members and Head of Calibra, David Marcus)
• (12 Jul 2019) Ex-operator of Bitcoin-denominated share trading platform sentenced for securities fraud and obstruction of justice for not disclosing a hacking and loss of customers' Bitcoin | Press release

APAC

Korea:           

• (17 Jul 2019) Financial Services Commission announces plan to accept applications from digital banks for approval | Press release

Singapore:   

• (17 Jul 2019) The Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Central Bank of Kenya have signed a fintech cooperation agreement to develop digital infrastructure in Kenya and to facilitate collaboration between financial institutions in both countries on innovative projects | Press release | See our table of fintech cooperation agreements for more information and a full list of international agreements.

Europe

EU:

• (18 Jul 2019) European Banking Authority report on the regulatory frameworks, regulatory status and authorisation approaches applicable to fintech activities across the EU | Press release
• (12 Jul 2019) European Securities and Markets Authority report on the status of licencing regimes for fintech firms across the EU | Press release

Germany:

• (15 Jul 2019) Federal Government response (in German) to a parliamentary question on cryptoassets, in which it sets out its position on stablecoins and central bank digital currencies | Press release (in German)

Italy:

• (15 Jul 2019) Italian securities regulator, Consob, research paper (in Italian) on marketplace lending, which includes an analysis of the current regulatory framework

Malta:

• (4 Jul 2019) Malta Financial Services Authority consultation on the first pillar of its proposed fintech strategy, which focuses on regulatory and supervisory initiatives aimed at supporting financial innovation

UK:

• (16 Jul 2019) Financial Conduct Authority Executive Director of Strategy and Competition, Christopher Woolard, speech on the regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) for consumer good, in which he announces a joint project with The Alan Turing Institute to explore the 'transparency and explainability' of AI in the financial sector
• (12 Jul 2019) HM Treasury plan for combatting economic crime for 2019 to 2022, which includes plans to establish an anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing regime for cryptoassets, led by the FCA | Press release

 

Middle East

Abu Dhabi:

• (15 Jul 2019) Abu Dhabi Global Market regulatory framework for digital investment managers ('robo-advisors') | Press release

CLIFFORD CHANCE EVENTS       

London – CBI Conference Series: Cyber Security (12 Sep 2019)

Clifford Chance is delighted to be hosting CBI's Cyber Security Conference 2019. The conference brings together business leaders and the UK’s foremost industry experts on cyber security. Through in-depth presentations, panel discussions and breakout sessions, our experts will provide the cutting-edge insight and practical solutions to enable you to plan your strategy with confidence. | For more information and to register see the Talking Tech event webpage.

London – Sibos Debrief – Payments Industry Forum (2 Oct 2019)

Clifford Chance will be hosting a payments industry forum event following Sibos 2019, which takes place in London on 23-26 Sep this year. Clifford Chance Partner Simon Gleeson will be moderating The future of banking panel and other members of our market leading payments services team will be at Sibos 2019, with ears open to pick up the very latest market, regulatory and legal issues in the banking, payments and fintech sectors. The following week, on 2 Oct 2019, please join us for a payments industry forum event, where we will update you on what we learned. | For more information and to RSVP see the Talking Tech event webpage.

This publication does not necessarily deal with every important topic nor cover every aspect of the topics with which it deals. It is not designed to provide legal or other advice. Clifford Chance is not responsible for third party content. Please note that English language translations may not be available for some content

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