The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced two new initiatives that will build on its Enforcement Division’s ongoing efforts to address cyber-based threats and protect retail investors.

Regulatory impediments and the current fragmentation of protocols from a multiplicty of providers of distributed ledger technology will prove to be a major challenge for banks to overcome before the technology can go mainstream in financial markets, says a senior Deutsche Börse executive.

The respective regulators of the Hong Kong and Dubai financial markets have signed an agreement designed to further their mutual cooperation on all things fintech.

Clearing houses in the UK will have to complete regular cybersecurity reports due to new legislation likely to be introduced in May 2018.

The Australian government has announced plans to strengthen its anti-money laundering rules with new reforms that will include digital currencies for the first time.

A computer researcher who gained global recognition for his role in halting the Wannacry ransom attack on UK hospitals has been arrested in the US on charges that he was the chief architect of the Kronos banking trojan.

A US jury has indicted a Russian man arrested earlier this week in Greece accused of helping to launder more than $4 billion in bitcoin, including some obtained from the infamous Mt. Gox hack. In a coordinated move, the bitcoin exchange he operated has been slapped with a $110 million fine by American authorities for AML law violations.