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.

CLIFFORD CHANCE BRIEFINGS AND MATERIALS

• (30 Jan 2025) Clifford Chance briefing – The reverse solicitation exemption under MiCA – what third-country firms need to know
• (30 Jan 2025) Clifford Chance briefing – The EU Introduces New Rules on AI Liability
• (30 Jan 2025) Talking Tech article – President Trump's first 7 days in office: what's out, what's in and what's still in

GLOBAL LEGAL AND REGULATORY UPDATES, INDUSTRY GUIDANCE AND PUBLICATIONS

International

• (29 Jan 2025) International Monetary Fund (IMF) Fintech Note on tokenisation and financial market inefficiencies. | Webpage
• (29 Jan 2025) Bank for International Settlements (BIS) report on the governance of artificial intelligence (AI) adoption in central banks, which provides guidance on the implementation of AI at central banks and proposes a governance and risk management framework. | Webpage
• (23 Jan 2025) BIS working paper on privacy-enhancing technologies for digital payments. | Webpage

Americas

US:

• (4 Feb 2025) Republican Senator Bill Hagerty has published a new bill on the regulation of payment stablecoins, to be known as the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation in US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act.
• (4 Feb 2025) Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Acting Chairman Caroline D. Pham has announced a reorganisation of the CFTC Division of Enforcement’s task forces to combat fraud while ending what she described as the practice of regulation by enforcement. | Press release
• (4 Feb 2025) Statement by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Hester M. Peirce providing an overview of the SEC’s new Crypto Task Force and its work. Amongst other things, she noted that the status of cryptoassets under the securities laws is fundamental to resolving many other questions. She also indicated that the Task Force is thinking about the possibility of recommending SEC action to provide temporary prospective and retroactive relief for coin or token offerings for which the issuing entity or some other entity willing to take responsibility provides certain specified information, keeps that information updated, and agrees not to contest the SEC’s jurisdiction in the event of a case alleging fraud in connection with the purchase and sale of the asset. | Crypto Task Force webpage

Europe

EU:

• (4 Feb 2025) Speech by European Banking Authority (EBA) Chair José Manuel Campa on 'the new frontier of financial data access, sharing and reporting: benefits and challenges.'
• (31 Jan 2025) European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) supervisory briefing on the authorisation of cryptoasset service providers (CASPs) under the Markets in Cryptoassets Regulation (MiCA). | Press release
• (31 Jan 2025) EU Commission letter (dated 21 January 2025) to the Chair of the Joint Committee of the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) rejecting the ESAs' draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) on the elements which a financial entity needs to determine and assess when subcontracting ICT services supporting critical or important functions under the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA).

Italy:

• (30 Jan 2025) The Bank of Italy and the Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (Consob) have issued a joint press release (in Italian) on obligations for CASPS, which follows ESMA's recent statement regarding compliance with MiCA.

UK:

• (3 Feb 2025) House of Commons Treasury Committee call for evidence on AI in financial services. Deadline for responses: 17 March 2025.
• (31 Jan 2025) The UK Government has published a Code of Practice for the Cyber Security of AI, which sets out how organisations using AI can protect themselves from a range of cyber threats such as AI attacks and system failures. | Press release
• (30 Jan 2025) The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (Digital Securities Sandbox) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 (SI 2025/93), which have been made and laid before Parliament. The Regulations amend the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (Digital Securities Sandbox) Regulations 2023 (SI 2023/1398) to temporarily disapply the provisions of the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 that apply to cryptoassets and other related concepts for activities in scope of the digital securities sandbox (DSS). The Regulations come into force on 3 March 2025. | Explanatory memorandum
• (30 Jan 2025) Bank of England (BoE) Q&A document on the DSS, including the eligibility criteria to enter the Sandbox – the Gate 1 assessment
• (30 Jan 2025) Innovate Finance blog post which argues that fintech must be at the top of the agenda in the mission to boost UK growth.
• (29 Jan 2025) Association of British Insurers (ABI) report on cyber resilience for SMEs. | Press release