The initiative includes a competition law sustainability “sandbox” in which market participants could team up to work on sustainable business projects. By David Little and Pierre Bichet The Greek Competition Authority (HCC) has announced a public consultation on how competition law rules might be adapted to promote more sustainable business practices. The HCC published a … Continue Reading
With the explosion of AI applications, private equity houses and their portfolio companies must understand where key opportunities lie. By Tom Evans, Kem Ihenacho, David Walker, Laura Holden, Hector Sants, Claudia Sousa, Catherine Campbell, and Patricia Kelly Artificial intelligence (AI) developments provide increasing opportunities for private equity, including deal sourcing and portfolio company analysis/enhancement, particularly in businesses that can adopt … Continue Reading
The guidelines create new obligations for financial, payment, and electronic money institutions that will impact cloud outsourcing and deployment of FinTech. By Fiona M. Maclean and Laura Holden On 25 February 2019, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published a final report on its draft guidelines on outsourcing arrangements (Guidelines). The report followed the EBA’s publication … Continue Reading
Regulatory guidance on cryptoassets and digital currency companies may lead to a legitimisation of crypto-businesses as an investable asset class. By Stuart Davis, Sam Maxson, David Walker, Tom Evans, and Catherine Campbell Recent and upcoming regulatory guidance on cryptoassets and the regulation of companies engaged in digital currency, such as issuers, crypto-exchanges, crypto-custodians, crypto-brokers, and … Continue Reading
From August 2019, certain existing FCA rules and guidance will extend to payment service providers and e-money issuers in a signal that the FCA wants a consistent approach to consumer protection. By Rob Moulton, Brett Carr, and Frida Montenius The FCA has published a Policy Statement extending certain rules and guidance to the payment services … Continue Reading
The PSR will not review the fees and rules set by Visa and Mastercard, but will look at the practice of bundling, and will examine effects on innovation in card-acquiring services. By Brett Carr, Stuart Davis, and Christian McDermott Following the publication of its Draft Terms of Reference in July 2018, the PSR has now … Continue Reading
By Nicola Higgs, Fiona MacLean, Brett Carr, and Catherine Campbell Technology outsourcing by financial institutions (FIs) has increased in recent years as FIs look to the latest innovations to improve their day-to-day business processes and to reduce costs. FIs outsource key functions to a host of regulated and unregulated third-party service providers, and the sector is … Continue Reading
The EBA’s draft guidelines on outsourcing will impact cloud outsourcing and institutions’ deployment of FinTech. By Fiona Maclean, Charlotte Collins, and Terese Saplys On 4 September 2018, a wide audience of interested individuals gathered at Canary Wharf for a public hearing (Public Consultation) to listen to what the European Banking Authority (EBA) had to say in relation … Continue Reading
By Andrew Moyle and Stuart Davis Growth in applications for blockchain and tokenisation, combined with an increasing number of initial coin offerings (ICOs), mean that buyout firms should note developments in this sector. Why Should PE Be Interested in Blockchain? A shared blockchain ledger could drive a single interface between a PE fund and its investors, … Continue Reading
The PSR is to consider whether there is effective competition in the market and makes clear that further reviews of the payments ecosystem could be triggered by its findings By Brett Carr, Stuart Davis and Christian McDermott The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has issued Draft Terms of Reference for a market review into the supply … Continue Reading
FCA Chair hints that new regulation addressing data ethics in the FinTech space may be on the horizon. By Nicola Higgs, Fiona Maclean and Terese Saplys Will societies of the future be ruled by algocracy, in which algorithms decide how humans are governed? Charles Randell, Chair of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Payment Systems … Continue Reading
The FCA has outlined its approach to implementing key standards under the revised Payment Services Directive. By Christian McDermott, Stuart Davis, Brett Carr, and Charlotte Collins The FCA has published a statement on its website relating to the European Banking Authority’s (EBA’s) Opinion and draft Guidelines of 13 June 2018 on the Regulatory Technical Standards … Continue Reading
Both the FCA and the PRA have written to firms to warn about certain risks associated with exposures to crypto-assets, and to advise firms of the measures they should consider implementing to mitigate such risks. By Stuart Davis and Charlotte Collins The FCA and the PRA have each written a “Dear CEO” letter to firms, … Continue Reading
The consolidation of UK payment system operators marks another big step in delivering on the New Payments Architecture. By Stuart Davis and Brett Carr What happened? Operational responsibility for the Bacs and Faster Payments systems, which process a combined £6.3 trillion worth of payments annually, has transferred to the New Payment System Operator (NPSO). The … Continue Reading
New EU anti-money laundering measures have been approved by European legislators. By Stuart Davis and Charlotte Collins The European Parliament and Council have finally signed off on the text of the fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (known as MLD5). Overview The new directive is of particular interest to the FinTech sector as, amongst other things, MLD5 … Continue Reading
By Christian McDermott In recent years, PE firms have been paying to play in the payment processing sector. From Worldpay and Nets, to Bambora and Paysafe, payment processing companies have proven to be attractive investments for European PE. In our view, a wave of regulation in the FinTech sector will unleash further growth potential, and … Continue Reading
Bank of England announces that, for the first time, a non-bank payment services provider has accessed the UK payments system directly. By Andrew Moyle, Stuart Davis, Charlotte Collins, and Brett Carr The Bank of England has announced that a regulated payment services provider (PSP) has become the first non-bank direct participant in the UK’s Faster … Continue Reading
The Strategy emphasises the UK government’s continued push to create a world-leading FinTech sector. By Stuart Davis, Charlotte Collins and Sam Wong At the second International Fintech Conference held on 22 March 2018, Philip Hammond, Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced the launch of the UK’s first Fintech Sector Strategy. The Strategy includes the following key … Continue Reading
The FCA seeks industry feedback to capitalise on global regulatory sandbox trend. By Stuart Davis and Charlotte Collins The regulatory sandbox was pioneered by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) back in November 2015 — a “safe space” in which businesses can test innovative products, services, business models, and delivery mechanisms without immediately incurring all the … Continue Reading
By Andrew Moyle and Stuart Davis The UK government’s 2017 Autumn Budget included some measures of particular interest for fintech firms, demonstrating the government’s continued commitment to making the UK a world-leading fintech hub. The government has provided only scant detail on these measures at present, but no doubt firms will be watching closely to … Continue Reading
By Andrew Moyle, Stuart Davis, and Charlotte Collins On 15 November 2017, the European Central Bank (ECB) published a newsletter containing an article on how the ECB is dealing with the increasing number of fintech bank applications. The ECB is the banking supervisor, alongside national regulators, for all “significant” banks authorised in Eurozone countries. As … Continue Reading
By Andrew Moyle, Wenchi Hu, Simon Hawkins and Stuart Davis Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) involve issuers offering virtual coins or tokens that are created and disseminated using distributed ledger or blockchain technology. The capital raised from the offer will fund the development of a digital platform, software, or any other project. Holders of virtual coins or … Continue Reading
By Andrew Moyle, Stuart Davis, Fiona Maclean, Christian McDermott and Charlotte Collins The Bank of England (BoE) announced on 19 July 2017 that it is extending direct access to its real-time gross settlement (RTGS) service to non-bank payment service providers (i.e., e-money institutions and payment service providers that do not have regulatory permissions to carry … Continue Reading
By Andrew Moyle, Fiona Maclean, Christian McDermott, Andrea Stout and Stuart Davis On April 28th, the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) published a report about Fintech and the influence of technology on the future of the financial sector. The report, prepared by Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, was adopted by ECON with 45 votes in … Continue Reading
