Global Fintech Update
22 January 2025
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.
CLIFFORD CHANCE BRIEFINGS AND MATERIALS
- (17 Jan 2025) Talking Tech – Unpacking the UK's AI Action Plan
GLOBAL LEGAL AND REGULATORY UPDATES, INDUSTRY GUIDANCE AND PUBLICATIONS
Americas
US:
- (21 Jan 2025) Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Acting Chairman Mark T. Uyeda has launched a crypto task force dedicated to developing a comprehensive and clear regulatory framework for cryptoassets. Commissioner Hester Peirce will lead the task force. | Press release
- (21 Jan 2025) Statement by Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFCT) Acting Chairman Caroline D. Pham, in which she emphasised that the CFTC must refocus and change direction with new leadership to fulfil its statutory mandate to promote responsible innovation.
APAC
Singapore:
- (15 Jan 2025) The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has introduced the Global-Asia Digital Bond Grant Scheme (G-ADBGS), which is intended to promote the issuance and broader market adoption of digital bonds in Singapore. The initiative aims to enhance operational efficiency and reduce costs through the use of distributed ledger technology (DLT).
Europe
EU:
- (17 Jan 2025) European Banking Authority (EBA) Q&As relating to the Payment Services Directive (PSD2), the Electronic Money Directive (EMD) and the Markets in Cryptoassets Regulation (MiCA).
- (17 Jan 2025) European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) statement and Q&A on non-MiCA compliant asset-referenced tokens (ARTs) and electronic money tokens (EMTs).
- (17 Jan 2025) European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) report on the feasibility of centralising the reporting of major ICT-related incidents by financial entities, as mandated by the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA).
- (17 Jan 2025) The EBA has repealed its guidelines on major incidents reporting under PSD2 to avoid overlap with DORA.
- (16 Jan 2025) The EBA and ESMA have published a joint report on recent developments in cryptoassets, analysing decentralised finance (DeFi) and crypto lending, borrowing and staking. The joint report is the EBA and ESMA's contribution to the EU Commission's report to the EU Parliament and Council under Article 142 of MiCA.
- (15 Jan 2025) The EBA has published a staff paper on predicting bank distress using machine learning.
Italy:
- (15 Jan 2025) The Bank of Italy has published a consultation document (in Italian) intended to extend the application of certain anti-money laundering (AML) provisions to cryptoasset service providers (CASPs).
- (7 Jan 2025) Following the adoption of the Italian Legislative Decree no. 129/2024, which implemented MiCA in Italy, the Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (Consob) has published its communication no. 1/24 inviting stakeholders to submit authorisation requests and engage in discussions with the regulator, as well as suggesting contact methodologies for requests and notifications under MiCA.
Luxembourg:
- (15 Jan 2025) Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) communiqué on the application of DORA.
- (15 Jan 2025) Commissariat aux Assurances (CAA) Circular Letter 25/1 (in French) on DORA.
UK:
- (15 Jan 2025) The Law Commission has published frequently asked questions (FAQs) on the relationship between private international law and other areas of law such as tax, banking and financial services regulation in the context of digital assets.
EVENTS
- The New US Administration and the Impact on the DLT Sector and Regulatory Environment for Crypto (online, 29 January 2025): In this 30-minute webinar, Clifford Chance fintech experts in New York, Washington DC, and London - Jesse Overall, Steve Gatti, Cliff Cone and Paul Landless - will discuss the new US administration and the outlook for the DLT sector and the regulatory environment for crypto, together with potential opportunities. This webinar is particularly relevant to banks, asset managers, and professionals within the fintech space. | To register, please complete the online RSVP form.