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Clifford Chance

Fintech

Talking Tech

Global Fintech Update

20 May 2022

Fintech Banking & Finance 20 May 2022

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.

CLIFFORD CHANCE BRIEFING & MATERIALS

SPOTLIGHT 

  • European Perspectives Series: The Digital Markets Act – Welcome to a New Era for Tech Regulation (10 May 2022): On 24 March, the EU legislators agreed on the final text of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The DMA will introduce new and far-reaching rules for the digital sector, with a particular focus on the behaviour of so-called digital 'gatekeepers', and marks the first major overhaul of EU rules for online actors for two decades. Some of our top European antitrust and tech experts from across the Clifford Chance network give an overview of the DMA, discuss who is affected, and consider how and what happens next. Watch the webinar (Registration may be required)

GLOBAL LEGAL AND REGULATORY UPDATE

International

  • (19 May 2022) Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report on the growing interconnectedness between traditional finance and decentralised finance (DeFi).
  • (10 May 2022) International Monetary Fund report on the impact of cryptoassets on capital flow management measures. | Summary

Africa

Nigeria:         

  • (10 May 2022) Securities and Exchange Commission rules on the issuance of digital assets as securities and on requirements for digital asset offering platforms, custodians, exchanges and other service providers. 

Americas

St Vincent and the Grenadines:           

  • (10 May 2022) Parliament has voted to approve the Virtual Asset Business Bill at its first reading. The bill establishes a regulatory framework for virtual assets, including by introducing a registration regime for firms wishing to offer virtual asset-related services. | Press release

US:  

  • (19 May 2022) US Department of Congress request for comment on aspects stakeholders wish it to consider when developing a framework to enhance US economic competitiveness in digital asset technologies, as requested under President Biden's Executive Order on the responsible development of digital assets, which was published in March 2022. Comments are due by 5 July 2022.
  • (16 May 2022) Congressional Research Service report on algorithmic stablecoins. The paper provides an overview of the TerraUSD crash (when the dollar-pegged stablecoin broke its peg twice over the course of a week), and considers wider policy issues, and current policy initiatives, relating to the 'run' risk of stablecoins.
  • (16 May 2022) Unsealed opinion from the US District Court for the District of Columbia on the application of sanctions to an online payment platform and cryptocurrency exchange transactions. The opinion rules that the defendant's transmission of cryptocurrency to a sanctioned jurisdiction violated US sanctions, and that they face liability because their transactions caused the crypto-exchanges they used to violate US sanctions.

APAC

Australia:     

  • (16 May 2022) Australian Tax Office statement on its tax priorities for 2022, which include, among other things, the monitoring of citizens' reporting of cryptoasset and NFT capital gains and losses.

Europe

EU:  

  • (19 May 2022) European Securities and Markets Authority report setting out its final technical advice to the EU Commission on various aspects of the Crowdfunding Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2020/1503), including a recommendation that the regulation's transitional period be extended beyond its current date of 10 November 2022 for crowdfunding service providers that are currently operating under national law and that have applied for authorisation under the regulation prior to the end of the transitional period. | Press release
  • (16 May 2022) Speech by Mairead McGuiness, Commissioner for Financial Services at the EU Commission, in which she announces the launch of a new fintech challenge focused on supporting Ukrainian citizens and the recovery of Ukraine.
  • (16 May 2022) Speech by European Central Bank (ECB) Executive Board Member, Fabio Panetta, on the EU's digital euro project. Panetta states that the EU hopes to launch the central bank digital currency (CBDC) within four years and that peer-to-peer payments may be one of its first applications.
  • (13 May 2022) ECB working paper on the benefits of CBDCs in addressing frictions around financial intermediation and privacy concerns.
  • (13 May 2022) European Banking Authority report setting out its final draft regulatory technical standards on the information that crowdfunding service providers must provide to investors under the Crowdfunding Regulation. This includes information on credit scoring and loan pricing disclosure, credit risk assessment, and risk management requirements. | Press release

Germany:    

  • (16 May 2022) Article (in German) by the Executive Director of Resolution and the Prevention of Money Laundering at the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, Birgit Rodolphe, on the supervision and regulation of DeFi. Rodolphe calls for the introduction of EU-wide regulations specifically aimed at DeFi.

The Netherlands:      

  • (17 May 2022) Speech from the Head of Capital Market Infrastructure and Transparency Supervision at the Authority for the Financial Markets, Paul Willem van Gerwen, on the rise and impact of crypto-derivatives. van Gerwen argues that the Netherlands should follow the approach taken in the UK and ban retail customers from trading in crypto-derivatives. | Press release (in Dutch)