[Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from Brian S. Korn, Leader, Digital Finance and Marketplace Lending, Partner, Manatt Financial...
Last year New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill that required the State’s Department of Financial Services (DFS) to...
Ant Financial is unlike any other company in the world, providing a wide swath of products and services; the company...
2018 has not been kind to the digital currency as it is down 50 percent against the dollar and the first quarter is the second worst on record; regulation, a clampdown in Asia hurting volume and the big price run up in late 2017 have all hurt Bitcoin; the prevailing thought about making fast cash has gone away as the price has dropped; the price today stand just below $7,000, down from a high of $20,000. Source.
The UK first created a regulatory sandbox in 2016; the Financial Conduct Authority is now seeking feedback on whether it should expand their sandbox globally; fintechs would benefit by having the ability to test in other countries and regulators could work together on some of the issues related to companies seeking to operate across borders; the FCA stated, "The overall approach would be to better understand and solve common regulatory problems, as well as being more helpful to firms who have aspirations to grow at scale in multiple markets." Source
Last week I was in Washington DC to attend the third annual Online Lending Policy Summit. This is the annual...
Chris Skinner notes that the tech industry is the least regulated industry in the world according to a Bank of...
According to the bank statement, “In view of the associated risks, it has been decided that, with immediate effect, entities regulated by RBI shall not deal with or provide services to any individual or business entities dealing with or settling [virtual currencies].”; the government had previously issued warnings about risks around trading cryptocurrencies; the Reserve Bank of India is more open to the development of blockchain technology. Source
China will soon be rolling out new licensing requirements for p2p lenders; The system will kick off in April with approvals slated to come at the end of this month, but many lenders aren’t aware of the filing process; in 2016 and 2017 many p2p lenders shut down and according to data there are around 2,000 remaining; it is expected that many of the 2,000 will not pass the new requirements; the new rules won’t allow platforms to guarantee loan payments and also limit loans to individuals and businesses; it will also require that platforms use custodian banks. Source
New regulations on asset management will increase capital that institutions have to hold in China; these regulations will significantly affect bank and nonbank relationships; banks have repackaged loans and transferred them to brokerages and other lenders which eventually make their way to investors; last year these transactions totaled $3.5 trillion in off-balance sheet lending according to the Wall Street Journal; one example of a lender that has been fined is China Guangfa Bank which turned loans going sour into high yield investments. Source