Clifford Chance

Welcome to this week's global fintech round-up, summarising fintech regulatory developments that have happened around the world along with our Clifford Chance fintech publications and upcoming events. 

Details of these and previous developments can also be found on our Fintech Topic Guide on the Clifford Chance Financial Markets Toolkit.

SPOTLIGHT

Talking Tech article: Developers can now let an AI assistant write code for them - but what are the IP implications?

A year after its announcement, GitHub Copilot was launched last month to the public at large. The tool promises to "fundamentally change the nature of software development" by providing AI-based coding suggestions, saving developers time and effort. What are the intellectual property implications for those who build or buy software created using Copilot? The launch of Copilot also coincides with the UK Government's response to its public consultation on artificial intelligence and intellectual property, and the impact of the Government's proposals are also considered in this article.

GLOBAL LEGAL AND REGULATORY UPDATES, INDUSTRY GUIDANCE AND PUBLICATIONS

Americas

US:  

• (26 Jul 2022) Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has announced a reorganisation of FinTech and customer protection efforts and changes to key roles, including the creation of the Office of Technology Innovation (OTI), formerly LabCFTC.
• (15 Jul 2022) Office of Government Ethics advisory notice, which sets out its recommendations regarding when senior government officials should be required to disclose their investments in non-fungible tokens.

APAC

Hong Kong:  

• (18 Jul 2022) Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) guide on banks' use of regtech solutions for third party monitoring and risk management. The guide is the seventh issue of the HKMA's regtech adoption practice guide series, which is intended to provide detailed practical guidance on the implementation of regtech solutions in the banking sector. | Covering circular

Singapore:

• (26 Jul 2022) The Monetary Authority of Singapore and Google Cloud have jointly launched the Point Carbon Zero Programme to drive the innovation, incubation and scaling of climate FinTech solutions in Asia.

Europe

EU:  

• (19 Jul 2022) European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority report setting out the findings from its peer review on outsourcing, including outsourcing to cloud service providers. | Press release

France:         

• (21 Jul 2022) The Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) and the Autorité de Régulation Professionnelle de la Publicité (ARPP) have revised their partnership agreement on communication in the financial services sector, extending it to include cryptoassets for the first time. Under the revised agreement, the ARPP commits to creating a recommendation for its members on its expectations regarding any communications on cryptoassets and token offerings. | Press release | Joint AMF/ARPP work programme 2022-23 (in French)

UK:  

• (25 Jul 2022) Speech by Sir Geoffrey Vos (Master of the Rolls) on the economic value of English law in relation to distributed ledger technology and digital assets.
• (20 Jul 2022) Financial Services and Markets Bill, which has been introduced to Parliament. Among other things, the bill will amend the Banking Act of 2009 and Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act of 2013 and bring stablecoins into the scope of regulation by granting new powers to HM Treasury to regulate “Digital Settlement Assets” and their service providers.
• (20 Jul 2022) Speech by Judge Mark Pelling QC on the principals issues which arise in cryptocurrency fraud cases and the solutions available under the English legal system.