Clifford Chance

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.

SPOTLIGHT

Central Bank Digital Currencies with Clifford Chance and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) (online, 9 July 2024) 

We are delighted to invite you to join us for a virtual event next Tuesday 9 July focused on the evolving legal questions around the development of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) co-hosted with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This insightful session will bring together leading global experts advising on CBDC design and implementation to discuss the crucial legal considerations and latest developments as more jurisdictions around the globe meaningfully explore the introduction of CBDCs. | Event programme. |  Register

GLOBAL LEGAL AND REGULATORY UPDATES, INDUSTRY GUIDANCE AND PUBLICATIONS

International

• (1 Jul 2024) The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and partners have announced that they have completed the comprehensive blueprint for phase three of Project Nexus, which will allow ready participants to work towards the next stage of seamlessly connecting their instant payment systems. Phase four will see Bank Negara Malaysia, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the Bank of Thailand and domestic IPS operators – who worked together in phase three – joined by the Reserve Bank of India, expanding the potential user base to India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI). | Report | Press release

Americas

Bolivia:         

• (26 Jun 2024) Banco Central de Bolivia press release (in Spanish) announcing its decision to annul Board Resolution No. 144/2020 of 15 December 2020 in order to allow financial entities to conduct transactions with virtual assets

US:

• (28 Jun 2024) The US Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have released final regulations on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)’s reporting requirements for brokers of digital assets, which are intended to align these requirements with reporting requirements for traditional financial services, to help taxpayers file accurate returns and pay taxes owed under current law. The final regulations will require brokers to report gross proceeds on the sale of digital assets beginning in 2026 for all sales in 2025. Brokers will also be required to report information on the tax basis for certain digital assets beginning in 2027 for sales in 2026. | Press release

APAC

Hong Kong:

• (28 Jun 2024) Financial Services Development Council (FSDC) research report entitled 'Embracing Digital ID: Accelerating Digital Transformation in Hong Kong's Financial Services Industry', which sets out recommendations to foster an ecosystem conducive to the development and adoption of digital ID systems, with a focus on driving innovation and collaboration within the financial services industry. | Press release
• (27 Jun 2024) The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Banque de France (BDF) have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on collaboration relating to wholesale CBDC. Under the MoU, the BDF and the HKMA agree to strengthen communication and collaboration, as well as to lay the foundations for further efforts on tokenisation and new technologies. | Press release

Singapore:

• (27 Jun 2024) The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has issued a press release announcing the expansion of several initiatives to scale asset tokenisation for financial services, in partnership with the Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA), the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) and the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA). The MAS, together with international financial institutions, has also published a whitepaper announcing the successful completion of the first phase of the Global Layer One (GL1) initiative and plans to develop standards, market practices and governing principles of foundational digital infrastructure for tokenised assets.

Europe

EU:

• (27 Jun 2024) European Banking Authority (EBA) and European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) final report on their joint guidelines under the Markets in Cryptoassets Regulation (MiCA) on the suitability assessment of members of the management body of issuers of asset-referenced tokens and of cryptoasset service providers, and on their joint guidelines on the suitability assessment of shareholders and members, whether direct or indirect, with qualifying holdings in issuers of asset-referenced tokens and in cryptoasset service providers. | Press release
• (26 Jun 2024) ESMA Securities and Markets Stakeholder Group (SMSG) advice to ESMA on its third consultation paper on MiCA

France:

• (27 Jun 2024) The BDF and the HKMA have entered into an MoU on collaboration relating to wholesale CBDC. Under the MoU, the BDF and the HKMA agree to strengthen communication and collaboration, as well as to lay the foundations for further efforts on tokenisation and new technologies. | Press release

EVENTS

• Central Bank Digital Currencies with Clifford Chance and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) (online, 9 July 2024): We are delighted to invite you to join us for a virtual event focused on the evolving legal questions around the development of CBDCs with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Clifford Chance. This insightful session will bring together leading global industry experts advising on CBDC design and implementation to discuss the crucial legal considerations and latest developments as more jurisdictions around the globe meaningfully explore the introduction of CBDCs. | Event programme | To register, please see the event registration form