This week, BNY Mellon (“Mellon”), the nation’s oldest bank, announced it was making good on its February 2021 plan to develop the infrastructure necessary to serve as custodian for digital assets. Mellon announced the launch of a proprietary crypto custody software developed in partnership with Fireblocks, a digital asset custody, transfer, and settlement platform. With its announcement, Mellon became the first large U.S ...
On the 12th of July 2022, the Malta Financial Services Authority (the “MFSA”) issued a Consultation Document on the reporting of major ICT-related incidents with a consultation period expiring on the 5th of August 2022. The MFSA worked on introducing an updated major ICT-related incident reporting process that replaces the previous process that was communicated on the 25th of September 2019 entitled ‘Cybersecurity – Threat Mitigation’ ...
On 30 September 2022, the Foreign Exchange Supervisory Committee (“FESC”) of the Central Bank of Myanmar (“CBM”) issued Letter No. FE-73 (23/2022) as a result of discussions held during meeting No. (53/2022). The letter has allowed fuel import entities to make repayments of financing agreements in Chinese yuan (“RMB”) in a bid to prevent delays in oil distribution to consumers in Myanmar ...
It’s hard to explain to someone who has never been accused of a crime that they cannot use their own money, and this situation could last for months. Nonetheless, an institution exerting this effect functions under Polish law and can impact both individuals and companies This institution is the freezing of accounts. In general it is used where there is a suspicion that funds in an account have a criminal origin or are related to an offence ...
The Guernsey Financial Services Commission (“GFSC”) has published its Guidance for CIS on measures to counter the risk of greenwashing (“Guidance”) which applies to all collective investment schemes which are authorised or registered under the Protection of Investors (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2020 and to those responsible for preparing the prospectuses and other marketing materials of such schemes ...
It has been a little over a year since the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”), an international initiative established to combat money laundering published its Mutual Evaluation Report (“MER”) on South Africa in which it identified major “weak spots” in our compliance processes. The FATF gave the country a deadline of February 2023 to remedy all the deficiencies or face possible grey listing ...
S African countries grapple with the measures necessary to meet their nationally determined commitments (“NDCs”) under the Paris Agreement, it is critical to be primed to attract sustainable finance, and for central banks and regulators in each country to create a fertile environment for this redirection of capital ...
On 13 September 2022, the Microfinance Supervision Committee (“Committee“) under the Ministry of Planning and Finance issued Directive No.4/2022 (“Directive“), which outlines risk-based management strategies required of microfinance institutions (“MFIs“) to combat money laundering and terrorism. The Directive also pertains to Section 69 (c) of the Anti-Money Laundering Law (Union Parliament Law No ...
On 28 March 2022, the Government of the Russian Federation adopted Resolution No. 497 which introduced a large-scale bankruptcy moratorium starting 1 April. We have already written about the moratorium and the consequences of its introduction for creditors and debtors in more detail here and here. The legal regulation of the moratorium was established in accordance with Article 9.1 of the Bankruptcy Law and the clarifications set forth in Resolution No ...
With the COVID-19 Inquiry (“the Inquiry”) now open, and applications for Core Participant status for Modules 1 and 2 currently being assessed, potential applicants will need to consider how their participation in the Inquiry will be funded. Section 40 of the Inquiries Act 2005 provides that funding for legal representation can be awarded out of the Inquiry budget. As the Inquiry will be funded by the government this is, in effect, public funding ...
The Proposed VASP Bill primarily: (i) defines the virtual assets activities that require registration; (ii) prescribes the criteria for a virtual assets service provider (“VASP”) to register; (iii) sets out the ongoing requirements and obligations of VASPs; and (iv) specifies the enforcement and general powers of the Commission as well as the penalties for contravening or failing to comply with, a provision of the Proposed VASP Bill ...
Bank Indonesia recently updated its regulation on domestic non-deliverable forward (DNDF) transactions. Bank Indonesia Regulation No. 24/7/PBI/2022 on Foreign Exchange Market Transactions (“BI Reg. 24/7/2022”) replaces the previous regulation on DNDF, BI Regulation No. 20/10/PBI/2018 (as amended). BI Reg. 24/7/2022 makes some noteworthy amendments on the DNDF terms and introduces new thresholds and provisions on DNDF transactions ...
The ever-growing industry of Peer-to-Peer Lending (“P2P Lending”) has driven the Financial Services Authority (Otoritas Jasa Keuangan – “OJK”) to issue OJK Regulation No. 10/POJK.05/2022 on Technology-Based Collective Financing Services, which came into force on 4 July 2022. The regulation provides more detailed and extensive provisions to cater with the rapid development of the industry ...
As part of the UK Government’s review of the UK funds regime it has included in the Finance Act 2022, (the Act) a new regime for qualifying asset-holding companies (QAHCs). This regime came into effect on 1 April 2022. The QAHC regime provides a tax efficient, UK resident vehicle through which certain types of institutional investors and funds can hold investments ...
Lauren Bowkett is a fraud and financial crime expert in the Business Crime and Compliance Team at Shoosmiths. She is an expert in confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (‘POCA’) and has successfully intervened in numerous POCA cases to assert her clients third party interest rights ...
A webinar hosted by Shoosmiths in collaboration with Asset Reality. Scroll down the page to watch the webinar. Intro poll According to a recent survey, what percentage of millennial millionaires own cryptocurrency? According to a recent study conducted by CNBC, 83% percent of millennial millionaires own cryptocurrency with over half having at least 50% of their wealth in cryptocurrencies. https://cointelegraph ...
On 17 August 2022, the Trade Competition Commission of Thailand (“TCCT”) issued the Notification of TCCT on Guidelines for Determining Fair Trade Practices Relating to Provision of Credit Terms for Small and Mediums Enterprises (“SMEs”) being Sellers or Service Providers (No.2) (“Notification”) which came into effect on 16 September 2022 ...
On September 15, 2022, the Wall Street Journal reported Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler told reporters after a Congressional hearing that digital assets and the intermediaries dealing in such assets that allow for staking may shift the “efforts of others” analysis under the Howey test. If so, they would be re-categorized as securities ...
<p>Dear valued clients, colleagues and friends,</p><p> </p><p>We are pleased to bring you the latest legal updates for September 2022.</p><p> </p><h2><strong>Financial Services</strong></h2><p><a href="http://www.shearndelamore.com/alerts/2022/Legal_Updates_Sept_1_2022.pdf">Expansion of SRI Sukuk and Bond Grant Scheme</a></p><p><a href="http://www ...
The issue of the Dubai Law No. 4 of 2022 regulating Virtual Assets in Dubai (VA Law) issued in March 2022 created a lot of buzz and further strengthened Dubai’s position as a global hub for digital assets. The VA Law also established the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) which was tasked with creating a legal framework for virtual assets sector ...
Reflecting on Scottish Housing Day's theme of sustainability for this year, we consider the balancing act faced by developers in dealing with an ever changing set of challenges in their drive to Net Zero. Scottish Housing Day 2022 shines a spotlight on sustainable housing ...
HUD issued Mortgagee Letter 2022-16 (“the Letter”) on September 7, changing a Departmental policy on surplus cash distribution that had been in place for roughly half a century. Multifamily borrowers with loans that close after September 7 may, subject to certain preconditions, take distributions of surplus cash monthly instead of annually or semi-annually ...
On September 9, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced its latest efforts to assert control over and regulate the Web3 ecosystem – an Office of Crypto Assets. This new office will be housed within the Division of Corporation Finance's Disclosure Review Program (DRP), which has historically been the source of focused review of issuer filings. Once officially established later this fall, the office will join the seven existing offices of the DRP ...
One of the proposals set out in the Green Paper concerns an investment obligation for streaming services. According to the proposal, streaming services are required to either invest directly in Norwegian films and series, or, if the services do not invest sufficiently in Norwegian content, contribute to the financing of such productions through financial contributions to the Norwegian Film Fund ...
