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

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

The Westminister Series: Westminister cryptoasset debate

Chris Holmes Peer at House of Lords

The Westminister Series: Westminister cryptoasset debate

One of the last debates in the most recent Parliamentary sitting, suspended following the tragic death of Her Late Majesty, was on cryptoassets, cryptocurrencies, and their regulation. A good debate in which positive, encouraging comments were made by the Minister. Martin Docherty-Hughes, the MP who secured the debate, is a long-time blockchain su...

26 September 2022 /regulation

Solutions to help fintechs break down barriers to collaborate with banks

Madeleine Barratt Associate at Pinsent Masons

Solutions to help fintechs break down barriers to collaborate with banks

Customers in the financial service sector now demand 24/7 access to digital services from their banks. Those demands have only increased as a consequence of the pandemic and its impact on consumer habits. To compete, banks need access to the latest digital technologies quickly, and commonly find it more efficient and effective to procure technolog...

15 August 2022 /regulation

The India Policy Series: Handling cross-border investments with RBI supported innovation

Retired Member

The India Policy Series: Handling cross-border investments with RBI supported innovation

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently announced the successful exit of four entities from its regulatory sandbox’s cohort for cross-border payments. This opens the door for the innovations of these entities, which address inward/outward remittance and provide blockchain based solutions among others to be adopted by the financial services indus...

08 August 2022 /regulation

The Westminster Series: The arrival of the Financial Services and Markets Bill

Chris Holmes Peer at House of Lords

The Westminster Series: The arrival of the Financial Services and Markets Bill

Since its inclusion in the Queen’s Speech on May 11, 2022, many of us have been awaiting the arrival of the Financial Services and Markets Bill. It finally emerged on the hottest day ever recorded in the UK. Forming a significant slice of the Chancellor’s speech at Mansion House on July 19, it was given First Reading down the road in the House of ...

26 July 2022 /regulation

The India Policy Series: What does RBI’s credit line move mean for BNPL innovation?

Retired Member

The India Policy Series: What does RBI’s credit line move mean for BNPL innovation?

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently issued an internal clarification that prepaid payment instruments (PPIs), such as m-wallets and prepaid cards, cannot be loaded through credit lines. The clarification hits certain fintech models in India including many buy now pay later (BNPL) offerings and new age ‘challenger credit cards’. A common model...

20 July 2022 /regulation

Stephen Elam Partner at Cooke Young & Keidan

When Smart Contracts Go Wrong

This article was co-authored by Stephen Elam, partner, and Elizabeth Meade, senior associate, Cooke Young and Keidan LLP. What is a smart contract? Smart contracts are computer code that automatically run when certain conditions are met, thereby executing all or parts of an agreement. Their use is widespread use in transactions on cryptocurrency ex...

23 June 2022 /regulation

The Westminster Series: What to expect from the UK's BNPL regulation

Chris Holmes Peer at House of Lords

The Westminster Series: What to expect from the UK's BNPL regulation

This week the government has published plans to strengthen regulation of the Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) market. Key proposals have been set out in an HMT Consultation response, lenders will be required to carry out affordability checks and financial promotion rules will be amended to ensure BNPL advertisements are “fair, clear, and not misleading”. ...

22 June 2022 /regulation

The Future of Payments 2022: Building operational resilience

Paige McNamee

The Future of Payments 2022: Building operational resilience

This is an excerpt from Finextra’s report, ‘The Future of Payments 2022: The Cutting Edge of Digital Payments.’ The Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are two highly relevant recent examples which underscore the need for greater operational resilience (OR) across financial services. Aimed at developing a far more resilient financial...

10 June 2022 /regulation

The Westminister Series: What does the Queen’s Speech have in store for Fintech?

Chris Holmes Peer at House of Lords

The Westminister Series: What does the Queen’s Speech have in store for Fintech?

The most obvious place to start is the Financial Services and Markets Bill, introduced to “strengthen the United Kingdom’s financial services industry, ensuring that it continues to act in the interest of all people and communities”. Financial services are vital to the UK economy, employing more than 2.3 million people across the UK, and contribut...

11 May 2022 /regulation

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