Under the leadership of its new Director, Rohit Chopra, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) appears poised to take a more active supervisory and enforcement posture, including with respect to Fintech – a sector that has not historically been a focus for the agency. Since taking office on October 12th, Director Chopra has
Financial Privacy & Cybersecurity
Fintech Week in Review: Week of October 2, 2020
Weekly Fintech Focus
- FinCEN and OFAC issue advisories on handling ransomware attacks, putting victims and those who help victims pay cybercriminals on notice that ransomware payments are risky and could result in violations of U.S. financial and sanctions laws.
- California signs into law its new consumer protection law, creating an expanded agency and giving it new enforcement and licensing powers.
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Fintech Week in Review: Week of August 9, 2019
By Eric Wasik & Sam Boro on
U.S. Developments
Federal Reserve to Build Real-Time Payments System
After years of speculation, the Federal Reserve announced this week it will create a real-time payments system, which it expects to be live by 2023 or 2024. The system, the FedNow Service, was announced by Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard during a speech at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. During the announcement, Brainard highlighted the strong support for the project the Federal Reserve received during its public comment period, noting that 90 percent of the comments called for the creation of the system. The system will allow near-instant transfers of funds 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, between depository institutions eligible to hold accounts at Federal Reserve Banks. Eligible depository institutions will also be able to designate a service provider or agent to submit or receive payment instructions on the institutions’ behalf. The FedNow Service will be designed for payments of $25,000 or less.
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SEC Takes Aim at Initial Coin Offerings Again
By J. Dax Hansen on
The SEC is targeting ICOs once again, but it is now adding more focus through its new Enforcement Division Cyber Unit.
- In its enforcement settlement with Munchee, Inc., the SEC looked past the utility of a “utility token” in its “securities” analysis and instead focused on aspects such as marketing and the existence of a
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CFTC Virtual Currency Proposed Interpretation – Part 2
By Andrew P. Cross & Laurie Rosini on
On December 15, 2017, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”) issued a proposed interpretation of the term “actual delivery” as used in the provision of the Commodity Exchange Act (the “CEA”) that grants the CFTC explicit authority to oversee the marketplace for “retail commodity transactions.” This is the second blog posting in a…
As Fintech Platforms Grow Up, Investment Management Firms Face the ‘Problems of Tomorrow’
Fund groups face disruptive developments, as advances in financial technology, often called fintech, continue at an ever more rapid pace. Even as new efficiencies and opportunities blossom, regulators have pushed financial firms to recognize the dangers of technological failures. To help prepare investment management firms for changes ushered in by fintech, we offer our primer…
SEC Hosts First Ever FinTech Forum
By Keith Miller & Sarah Howland on
On November 14, 2016, the SEC convened four panels of individuals at the forefront of the FinTech industry to address the rapid growth of recent innovations in FinTech. Panelists addressed how these innovations impact four main areas: investment advisory services; trading, settlement, and clearance activities; capital formation; and investor protection. The over-arching theme of the forum was the overlay of financial regulation in the rapidly-changing securities industry and how regulation needs revision to better address emerging technologies. Below we have summarized the four panels and the key take-aways.
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