Finextra Research: Latest fintech news, analysis, interviews, features and opinion by industry experts

Wal-Mart sues Visa over failure to mandate Chip and PIN

Visa's insistence that chip card holders in the US can continue to pay with a signature at the checkout has landed it in hot water with Wal-Mart, which is suing the card scheme over its failure to mandate the use of Chip and PIN payments.

11 May 2016

News/Legal

Founder of digital money laundering operation Liberty Reserve gets 20 year prison term

The founder of Liberty Reserve - a digital currency outfit used by cybercrooks to launder hundreds of millions of dollars - has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

10 May 2016

News/Legal

Gozi virus creator escapes long prison term

The cyber-crook behind the Gozi computer virus, which infected more than a million computers causing tens of millions of dollars of losses, has been spared a lengthy prison spell by a US court because of his cooperation with prosecutors.

03 May 2016

News/Legal

Wendy's faces class action suit over data breach

Fast food chain Wendy's is facing a possible class action lawsuit from financial services firms over a data breach that saw customer card information stolen.

29 April 2016

News/Legal

Hackers behind billion dollar SpyEye malware jailed

Two hackers have been sentenced by a US court to a combined 24 years and six months in prison for developing and distributing the notorious SpyEye malware, which has infected more than 50 million computers and caused nearly a billion dollars in harm to people and financial institutions around the world.

21 April 2016

News/Legal

Putin adviser calls bitcoin a virus

Russian authorities' opposition to virtual currencies has been underlined after a presidential adviser referred to bitcoin as an internet joke and a virus and urged that it be outlawed.

31 March 2016

News/Legal

US charges Iran-government linked hackers with cyber-attacks on US banks

The US Justice Department has indicted seven Iranians connected to the country's government with cyber-attacks on a host of major banks.

24 March 2016

News/Legal

US judge paves way for lawsuit against Mizuho over Mt Gox losses

A US judge has given the go-ahead to a class action lawsuit against Mizuho Bank over the Japanese giant's relationship with failed bitcoin exchange Mt Gox.

15 March 2016

Company update/Legal

US court dismisses Venezualan central bank suit over publication of black market currency rates

A U.S. District Court on Friday dismissed a lawsuit filed by the government of Venezuela, through its state-controlled Central Bank, aimed at shuttering DolarToday.com, a U.S.-based media outlet.

04 March 2016

News/Legal

$55m ATM heist mastermind pleads guilty

A Turkish man accused of masterminding a series of ATM cyberheists that netted his gang $55 million, has pleaded guilty in a New York court.

02 March 2016

Company update/Legal

EU adopts new rules on central clearing for credit derivatives

The European Commission has adopted a new set of rules that requires certain over-the-counter (OTC) credit derivative contracts to be cleared through central counterparties (CCPs).

01 March 2016

News/Legal

Bitcoin mining firm Butterfly Labs settles FTC charges

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has settled charges against a Bitcoin mining hardware outfit accused of charging people thousands of dollars for machines that were never delivered.

18 February 2016

Company update/Legal

Parker Fitzgerald appoints Jeremy Scott to its executive board

Parker Fitzgerald (PFG), the specialist management consultancy, announces today the appointment of Jeremy Scott, former Global Financial Services leader and Global Board member at PwC, to its Executive Board as Head of Institutional Relationships.

01 February 2016

Company update/Legal

CMA extends timetable for retail banking market investigation

The CMA expects to extend the timetable for its investigation into the retail banking market.

29 January 2016

News/Legal

Dutch cops arrest 10 over bitcoin money laundering scheme

Dutch authorities have arrested 10 men accused of using bitcoin to launder up to EUR20 million made from selling drugs online.

20 January 2016

Company update/Legal

Finra sanctions Fidelity Brokerage Services $1 million for supervisory failures

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced today that it fined Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC $500,000 and ordered the firm to pay nearly $530,000 in restitution for failing to detect or prevent the theft of more than $1 million from nine of its customers, eight of whom were senior citizens.

18 December 2015

Company update/Legal

FCA fines Threadneedle Asset Management Limited £6m

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Threadneedle Asset Management Limited (TAML) £6,038,504 for failing to put in place adequate controls in the fixed income area of its front office, and for providing inaccurate information to the regulator and for failing to correct the inaccurate representation for four months.

15 December 2015

Company update/Legal

SFC reprimands and fines three JP Morgan entities a sum of HK$30 million for regulatory breaches

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has reprimanded J.P. Morgan Broking (Hong Kong) Limited (JPMBHK), J.P. Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Limited (JPMSAP) and J.P. Morgan Securities (Far East) Limited (JPMSFE) (collectively “JP Morgan”), and fined them $15 million, $12 million and $3 million respectively for various regulatory breaches and/or internal control failings.

15 December 2015

News/Legal

Fiserv loses three-year patent dispute with FIS

FIS has won a three-year patent dispute suit lodged by rival vendor Fiserv following a ruling that the alleged infringements were 'unpatentable'.

08 December 2015

Company update/Legal

Former secret service agent sentenced to 71 months in Silk Road investigation

A former Secret Service special agent who had been a member of the Baltimore Silk Road Task Force was sentenced to 71 months in prison today on charges of money laundering and obstruction of justice.

08 December 2015