Global monetary authorities and financial regulators have responded forcefully to the advent of privately developed global stablecoins. By Todd Beauchamp, David L. Concannon, Stephen P. Wink, Simon Hawkins, Stuart Davis, and Deric Behar A new report highlights the risks of global stablecoins and enumerates the legal, regulatory, and oversight hurdles a global stablecoin must clear … Continue Reading
The BoE is seeking feedback on the Introductory Phase of the ISO 20022 migration, that will create a common language for payments data globally. By Christian F. McDermott, Grace E. Erskine, and Amy Smyth In 2018, the Bank of England (BoE) consulted on the adoption of ISO 20022 — a global standard for payments messaging … Continue Reading
European Commission confirms SCA measures should apply to EU consumers purchasing from UK websites in the event of a no-deal Brexit. By Christian F. McDermott, Jagveen S. Tyndall, and Amy Smyth Complex payment processing chains comprise multiple entities operating behind the scenes to support everyday transactions. The strong customer authentication (SCA) requirements introduced by the … Continue Reading
US lawmakers urge FSOC to designate cloud-based storage systems used by major banks as systemically important financial market utilities. By Alan W. Avery, Victoria McGrath, and Pia Naib In an August 22, 2019, letter addressed to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, in his capacity as chair of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), Congresswoman Katie Porter … Continue Reading
While the payments industry scrambles to meet new standards for APIs, the FCA grants an extension for SCA compliance. By Christian F. McDermott, Jagveen Tyndall, and Amy Smyth In an effort to evaluate the readiness of banks to comply with the revised EU Payment Services Directive (PSD2), Tink, a banking platform and data provider, has … Continue Reading
The Federal Reserve is finally stepping into the real-time payments arena. By Todd Beauchamp, Loyal T. Horsley, and Deric Behar On August 5, 2019, the Board of Governors of the US Federal Reserve System (the Fed) announced that it plans to roll out a real-time payment and settlement service by 2023 or 2024. The service, … Continue Reading
Several states and municipalities are requiring brick-and-mortar retail locations to accept cash from customers. By Todd Beauchamp, Loyal T. Horsley, and Charles Weinstein On May 7, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to require all brick-and-mortar stores in the city to accept cash from customers. The Board reasoned that the trending practice of … Continue Reading
Stripe-commissioned report projects that Europe’s online economy risks losing €57 billion when SCA goes into effect on 14 September. By Christian F. McDermott A recent report released by 451 Research and commissioned by Stripe, the online payment processing business, has found poor levels of readiness for the requirements of Strong Customer Authentication (SCA). The report … Continue Reading
Latest FCA and PRA fines against a retail bank show little tolerance for poor outsourcing systems and controls. By Fiona M. Maclean, Christian F. McDermott, Laura Holden, and Charlotte Collins On 29 May 2019, the FCA and PRA announced that they had fined an independent UK bank for failing to manage its outsourcing arrangements properly … Continue Reading
FinCEN’s guidance clarifies the applicability of the BSA to a variety of virtual currency businesses. By Todd Beauchamp, Charles Weinstein, Loyal T. Horsley, Cameron R. Kates, and Shaun Musuka On May 9, the US Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued interpretive guidance expanding on previously issued guidance and rulings regarding the … Continue Reading
As several PSD2 deadlines approach, PSPs must comply with reporting and notification requirements, as well as with their GDPR obligations. By Christian F. McDermott, Fiona M. Maclean, and Jagveen Tyndall Though the majority of the provisions relating to the revised EU Payment Services Directive (PSD2) came into force in the UK on 13 January 2018, … Continue Reading
Federal court allows NYSDFS lawsuit against OCC FinTech charter to proceed, raising further questions about the charter’s viability. By Alan W. Avery, Todd Beauchamp, Loyal T. Horsley, Pia Naib, and Charles Weinstein In a May 2 order, US District Court Judge Victor Marrero rejected the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC’s) recent motion … Continue Reading
The enforcement action serves as a reminder that virtual currency exchangers, regardless of size, must comply with the BSA. By Todd Beauchamp and Charles Weinstein The US Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) does not care if you are a multinational corporation or an individual operating out of your garage; regardless of size, … Continue Reading
International perspectives on regulatory developments impacting innovation in financial services. Approximately 100 financial institutions and emerging companies recently convened in London for a forum on regulatory developments and other considerations that will impact innovation in financial services this year. The Latham-sponsored event — “From Geek to Chic: The Rapid Evolution of Payments and Cryptocurrencies and … Continue Reading
The guidelines create new obligations for financial, payment, and electronic money institutions that will impact cloud outsourcing and deployment of FinTech. By Fiona M. Maclean and Laura Holden On 25 February 2019, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published a final report on its draft guidelines on outsourcing arrangements (Guidelines). The report followed the EBA’s publication … Continue Reading
From August 2019, certain existing FCA rules and guidance will extend to payment service providers and e-money issuers in a signal that the FCA wants a consistent approach to consumer protection. By Rob Moulton, Brett Carr, and Frida Montenius The FCA has published a Policy Statement extending certain rules and guidance to the payment services … Continue Reading
The PSR will not review the fees and rules set by Visa and Mastercard, but will look at the practice of bundling, and will examine effects on innovation in card-acquiring services. By Brett Carr, Stuart Davis, and Christian McDermott Following the publication of its Draft Terms of Reference in July 2018, the PSR has now … Continue Reading
The PSR is to consider whether there is effective competition in the market and makes clear that further reviews of the payments ecosystem could be triggered by its findings. By Brett Carr, Stuart Davis, and Christian McDermott The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has issued Draft Terms of Reference for a market review into the supply of … Continue Reading
The FCA has outlined its approach to implementing key standards under the revised Payment Services Directive. By Christian McDermott, Stuart Davis, Brett Carr, and Charlotte Collins The FCA has published a statement on its website relating to the European Banking Authority’s (EBA’s) Opinion and draft Guidelines of 13 June 2018 on the Regulatory Technical Standards … Continue Reading
The consolidation of UK payment system operators marks another big step in delivering on the New Payments Architecture. By Stuart Davis and Brett Carr What happened? Operational responsibility for the Bacs and Faster Payments systems, which process a combined £6.3 trillion worth of payments annually, has transferred to the New Payment System Operator (NPSO). The … Continue Reading
New EU anti-money laundering measures have been approved by European legislators. By Stuart Davis and Charlotte Collins The European Parliament and Council have finally signed off on the text of the fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (known as MLD5). Overview The new directive is of particular interest to the FinTech sector as, amongst other things, MLD5 … Continue Reading
By Christian McDermott In recent years, PE firms have been paying to play in the payment processing sector. From Worldpay and Nets, to Bambora and Paysafe, payment processing companies have proven to be attractive investments for European PE. In our view, a wave of regulation in the FinTech sector will unleash further growth potential, and … Continue Reading
Bank of England announces that, for the first time, a non-bank payment services provider has accessed the UK payments system directly. By Andrew Moyle, Stuart Davis, Charlotte Collins, and Brett Carr The Bank of England has announced that a regulated payment services provider (PSP) has become the first non-bank direct participant in the UK’s Faster … Continue Reading
Swiss regulator offers assistance in navigating the regulatory framework. By Andrew Moyle, Stuart Davis and Charlotte Collins The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has published a set of guidelines, setting out how it intends to apply its financial markets legislation in the context of initial coin offerings (ICOs). Despite the growing trend for ICOs … Continue Reading
