Governance
CFTC commissioner clarifies scope of digital asset regulation
Source: CFTC
Over the course of the conference you have heard others explain various developments in the evolution of bitcoin. Rather than repeat what you have already heard about the tremendous growth and noteworthy interest in bitcoin, my remarks instead will focus on the regulation of bitcoin. There are many federal and state regulators that also have an interest in bitcoin, as well as the entities that trade and custody bitcoin—among the most prominent at the federal level are the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission), where I have been privileged to serve as a Commissioner since 2018. Today, my focus is going to be on what we have been doing at the CFTC with respect to bitcoin and digital assets more generally.
HKMA launches Global Regtech Challenge
Source: HKMA
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) today (25 March 2021) launched the “Global Regtech Challenge”, a competition designed to raise the Hong Kong banking industry’s awareness of the potential of Regtech adoption.
Capital One hit with $390 million fine over "egregious" AML failures
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has enforced a $390 million civil money penalty on Capital One for engaging in both "willful and negligent" violations of the Bank Secrecy Act.
Regulators Seek Faster Fintech Innovation to Cope with Covid-19
Covid-19 has led to a strong increase in the use of fintech products and services, prompting central banks and other financial authorities to step up their own regulatory innovation efforts, according to a report from the World Bank and the Cambridge Centre For Alternative Finance (CCAF).
Regulators make inquiries over Robinhood trading restrictions
US regulators have made inquiries to Robinhood about the trading restrictions the app put on stocks such as GameStop during the Reddit-led rallies earlier this year.
Regulatory innovation advances in the face of Covid-19
While Covid-19 may have wreaked havoc across financial services, according to a recent report the pandemic has driven the urgency to prioritise and actively deploy fintech initiatives by regulators.
JPMorgan Chase fined $920 million for market manipulation
Source: US Justice Deparment
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPMorgan), a New York, New York-based global banking and financial services firm, has entered into a resolution with the Department of Justice to resolve criminal charges related to two distinct schemes to defraud: the first involving tens of thousands of episodes of unlawful trading in the markets for precious metals futures contracts, and the second involving thousands of episodes of unlawful trading in the markets for U.S. Treasury futures contracts and in the secondary (cash) market for U.S. Treasury notes and bonds.
Italian and German banking associations propose more flexible rules in light of pandemic impact
Source: Italian Banking Association
Shaping the Banking Union, refocussing on a fair regulatory approach towards the implementation of Basel III in the EU and adapting the treatment of non-performing loans (NPLs) in light of the current economic scenario, : these are the requests the Italian Banking Association (ABI) and the German Banking Industry Committee (GBIC) put forward in a document which calls on European institutions to adopt significant first and second level regulatory measures to counter the economic effects of Covid-19.
China hints more fintech regulation to come
Some of China's largest fintech companies may face more regulation following comments made by the top banking regulator.
Citi penalised for system design flaw that scrubbed millions of audio files
Citibank has been fined $4.5 million by the Commodity Future Trading Commission (CFTC) for a design flaw which led to the deletion of millions of audio files, including recordings which had been subpoenaed.
Ripple formally responds to SEC lawsuit
Ripple has accused the Securities and Exchange Commission of distorting the facts about the status of its cryptocurrency XRP in its first formal response to a regulatory lawsuit filed in December.
NZ regulator creates specialist roles in fintech and ESG
Source: New Zealand Financial Markets Authority
The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) has announced the appointment of two new specialist roles focused on deepening the regulator’s expertise in two evolving and important sectors: financial technology (FinTech) and environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) impacts on financial markets.
Westpac hit with record fine for AML breaches
Australian bank Westpac has become the latest institution to fall foul of anti-money laundering rules after it was slapped with a record fine of A$1.3bn ($0.9bn) by the Australian regulator.