Regulation & Compliance - Long Reads, News, Articles & Research: Finextra

The Westminster Series: Optimising the potential of the Financial Services and Markets Bill

Chris Holmes Peer at House of Lords

The Westminster Series: Optimising the potential of the Financial Services and Markets Bill

I have written here before about the Financial Services and Markets Bill - the biggest reform of financial services in a generation. It is a huge opportunity. According to the Government the bill will: implement the outcomes of the Future Regulatory Framework review (reshaping the UK’s regulatory and legislative regime as an independent state outs...

18 January 2023 /regulation

Unlocking value in digital spaces: The role of NFTs

Jennifer Calver Tech Sector and Fintech Knowledge Lawyer at Linklaters

Unlocking value in digital spaces: The role of NFTs

NFTs, and the tokenisation of real world to digital assets, is a hot topic across multiple industries including sports, gaming, art, fashion, and real estate. Although it is early days in the adoption of this new technology, new applications and use-cases are emerging. While the market in the first wave of NFTs might have crashed, there are many w...

09 January 2023 /regulation

5 predictions for fintech in 2023: What’s next after a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year?

Arvin Abraham Partner at Goodwin Procter

5 predictions for fintech in 2023: What’s next after a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year?

Fintech in 2022 was buffeted by a cyclical sectoral downturn combined with a souring macro-economic environment. In part, the sector was a victim of its own success. After flying high and being one of the most heavily invested-in sectors for the past several years, it was only natural that values would come back down to reality and align with hist...

05 January 2023 /regulation

The India Policy Series: Analysing the 2022 Digital Personal Data Protection Bill

Retired Member

The India Policy Series: Analysing the 2022 Digital Personal Data Protection Bill

India’s journey towards a dedicated privacy law started with the Puttaswamy judgment in 2017, which recognised privacy as a fundamental right under the Constitution of India, and expressed the need for a comprehensive data protection regime in the country. After extensive public debate and discussion, the draft Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019...

19 December 2022 /regulation

How are BNPL products impacted by the FCA Consumer Duty?

John O'Donovan Partner, Head of Banking & Finance at Harold Benjamin Solicitors

How are BNPL products impacted by the FCA Consumer Duty?

The market for interest-free Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) and other associated products, such as short-term interest-free credit (STIFC) has been growing at a searing pace. Unsurprisingly, it has come to the attention of the regulators with respect to potential consumer detriment. This has only been magnified by the backdrop of the Financial Conduct Au...

15 December 2022 /regulation

The Westminster Series: Key questions for the Chancellor’s ‘Edinburgh Reforms’

Chris Holmes Peer at House of Lords

The Westminster Series: Key questions for the Chancellor’s ‘Edinburgh Reforms’

On Friday the 9th December, Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt unveiled the ‘Edinburgh Reforms’ of UK financial services – over 30 regulatory reforms to unlock investment and turbocharge growth in towns and cities across the UK. The Chancellor positioned these reforms as the next step in a plan kicked off by the previous Chancellor (now PM)’...

14 December 2022 /regulation

The India Policy Series: Cross-sectoral innovation under the new interoperable regulatory sandbox

Retired Member

The India Policy Series: Cross-sectoral innovation under the new interoperable regulatory sandbox

Fintech innovation is challenging traditional regulatory constraints and models for supervision. The mushrooming of cross-sectoral, hybrid financial products from fintech entities requires governance by multiple financial regulators. As such innovation is better served by a harmonious regulatory sandbox (RS), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) launch...

10 November 2022 /regulation

DORA: Financial institutions must act now or risk non-compliance

Jolanda Schekermans Head of Product - Europe at Form3

DORA: Financial institutions must act now or risk non-compliance

The European Union’s incoming Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) was first published in September 2020 as part of the Union’s Digital Finance Package (DFP), with a clear objective of improving the digital resiliency of the entire financial system. Almost every type of financial institution (FI) across the EU will be required to ensure that ...

03 November 2022 /regulation

The Westminster Series: How will the Electronic Trade Documents Bill transform trade in the UK?

Chris Holmes Peer at House of Lords

The Westminster Series: How will the Electronic Trade Documents Bill transform trade in the UK?

The Electronic Trade Documents Bill is one of the most important bills you have never heard of. Not only will this bill make trade faster, cheaper, and greener, it is an English law model of how to legislate for technology through specific criteria. A blockchain bill that will stimulate blockchain development and adoption without ever mentioning b...

02 November 2022 /regulation

Understanding the regulatory landscape for crypto-assets in Germany and the EU

Renate Prinz Partner at McDermott Will & Emery LLP

Understanding the regulatory landscape for crypto-assets in Germany and the EU

Currently, we can read many summaries and briefings on the new Market in Crypto Assets Regulation (“MiCAR”) everywhere. For sure, MiCAR has the potential to give the EU crypto market a huge push forward. From what we can see so far, regulation for new business models especially in the Fintech market is not as bad as everyone supposed before. We al...

01 November 2022 /regulation

The Westminster Series: The second reading of the Financial Services and Markets Bill

Chris Holmes Peer at House of Lords

The Westminster Series: The second reading of the Financial Services and Markets Bill

A vision to promote competition, innovation and growth but does it go far enough on financial inclusion, the environment, and the role of the regulators? I have written before about the Financial Services and Markets Bill - an incredibly important piece of legislation currently before Parliament. The Bill is set to usher in the largest change to f...

17 October 2022 /regulation

The India Policy Series: RBI launches cross-border bill and credit-based UPI payments

Retired Member

The India Policy Series: RBI launches cross-border bill and credit-based UPI payments

Last month, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor launched three payments related initiatives at the Global Fintech Fest. The first was Bharat BillPay Cross-Border Bill Payments, allowing non-resident Indians (NRIs) to make utility, water, telephone, and other bill payments for their families in India. The next two new features were on the alre...

13 October 2022 /regulation

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