FinTech Update

Financial Services News for FinTech Companies and Lawyers

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FinTech Update

Thoughts on how to limit fraud risks in the APAC region

By Hagen Rooke

June 2, 2020

The cryptocurrency and digital-asset ecosystem in the Asia-Pacific region has seen rapid growth over recent years and is generating opportunities for novel business models, but is also giving rise to various types of fraud. While fraud risk in this sector is being mitigated by service providers such as cryptocurrency exchanges and digital-wallet operators implementing practical safeguards for the protection and monitoring of assets and transactions, and while comprehensive regulatory frameworks are being introduced across the…

FinTech Update

Telegram Abandons TON Blockchain

By Trevor A. Levine, Herbert F. Kozlov & Christine T. Parker

May 22, 2020

Earlier this month, Telegram Inc. announced that it was abandoning its development of the Telegram Open Network (TON). The move comes after the SEC won a preliminary injunction against Telegram in the Southern District of New York in March that blocked Telegram from launching TON and its native cryptocurrency, the Gram. The Court determined that the SEC had shown that there was a substantial likelihood it could prove that Telegram’s plan to distribute Grams into…

FinTech Update

Final report from the European Banking Authority regarding security risk management and ICT released

By Howard Womersley Smith

December 2, 2019

Last week (28 November 2019), the European Banking Authority (EBA) released the final version of its report entitled ‘EBA Guidelines on ICT and security risk management’ (the Guidelines) (link here) on the mitigation and management of financial institutions’ (FIs) information and communication technology (ICT) and security risks. We highlight below some of the key takeaways. Read our full report on our sister site, the Technology Law Dispatch.…

FinTech Update

Basel Committee on Banking Supervision publishes report on implications of open banking

By Howard Womersley Smith

November 25, 2019

On 19 November 2019, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) published its report on open banking and its implications for banks and banking supervision. The report builds on the BCBS’ previous findings on open banking and application programming interfaces (APIs) in its 2018 report (“Sound practices on the implications of FinTech developments for banks and bank supervisors”). We highlight findings from the report from a data protection perspective below. Read the full report on…

FinTech Update

Reed Smith handles DBS Bank – Google payments processing partnership

By Hagen Rooke, Charmian Aw & Howard Womersley Smith

November 18, 2019

Reed Smith successfully represented DBS, Southeast Asia’s largest bank, in structuring and closing a strategic business partnership with Google. The arrangement will see Google make DBS payment systems available on Google’s G Pay platform, which will allow DBS customers using that platform to send and receive funds, and pay merchants. The transaction was led by a Reed Smith cross-border team that included Singapore lawyers Hagen Rooke and Charmian Aw, and UK lawyer Howard Womersley Smith. The Firm…

FinTech Update

Wyoming and Colorado Emerging as Leading Digital Asset Venues in the U.S.

By Herbert F. Kozlov & Arthur C. Surratt III

October 28, 2019

Intro and Background: Technology innovation tends to happen at a rapid pace, as companies take on a “fail fast” approach to ensure that products are responsive to market demands. If technology advances at the speed of sound, the legal structures and regulations often struggle to keep up. In the blockchain and digital asset space, an antiquated regulatory framework does not attract innovative businesses or capital. Wyoming Makes Its Move: This year, Wyoming enacted a series…

FinTech Update

SEC Obtains TRO against Telegram Group Inc.

By Herbert F. Kozlov, C. Neil Gray & Arthur C. Surratt III

October 18, 2019

On October 11, 2019 the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed an emergency action in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and obtained a temporary restraining order against Telegram Group Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiary, TON Issuer Inc. According to the SEC’s complaint,[1] the two offshore entities were conducting an unregistered offering of securities in the form of digital tokens in the U.S. and overseas that has…

FinTech Update

Alice v. CLS Bank: no friend to FinTech patents based on abstract ideas

By Lisa A. Chiarini & Herbert F. Kozlov

October 18, 2019

In a recent decision, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York invalidated Western Express Bancshares, LLC’s (Western Express) U.S. Patent No. 8,498,932 relating to a method of transferring funds through a bankcard. The court’s decision nixed Western Express’ assertion of patent infringement claims against Green Dot Corporation (Green Dot) for the sale and offering of CashBack Visa® Debit Cards, Reloadable Prepaid Visa® Cards, Load Go Prepaid Visa® Cards, and Reloadable Prepaid…

FinTech Update

MIAX continues to win FinTech patent battle with Nasdaq

By R. Eric Hutz, Lisa A. Chiarini & Herbert F. Kozlov

October 16, 2019

Miami International Holding Inc. et al. (MIAX) attained five victories within two weeks before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. In successive final written decisions issued in October, the PTAB declared that five Nasdaq patents related to electronic securities trading systems are invalid under 35 U.S.C. Section 101. Section 101 defines patent-eligible subject matter. The PTAB determined that all five Nasdaq patents (U.S. Patent Nos. 6,618,707; 7,246,093;…

FinTech Update

SEC Files ICO-Related Enforcement Action Against ICOBox

By C. Neil Gray & Maxwell J. Eichenberger

September 24, 2019

In Securities and Exchange Commission v. ICOBox et al,[1] the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) alleges that defendant ICOBox and its founder, Nikolay Evdokimov violated Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act by selling $14.6 million in unregistered securities within and outside the United States. ICOBox bills itself as an ICO[2] incubator that provides legal, technological, and marketing support to blockchain-based startups and sold its own tokens, “ICOS,” beginning in August 2017…

FinTech Update

Financial Services News for FinTech Companies and Lawyers

Blog Authors

Thoughts on how to limit fraud risks in the APAC region

Telegram Abandons TON Blockchain

Final report from the European Banking Authority regarding security risk management and ICT released

Basel Committee on Banking Supervision publishes report on implications of open banking

Reed Smith handles DBS Bank – Google payments processing partnership

Wyoming and Colorado Emerging as Leading Digital Asset Venues in the U.S.

SEC Obtains TRO against Telegram Group Inc.

Alice v. CLS Bank: no friend to FinTech patents based on abstract ideas

MIAX continues to win FinTech patent battle with Nasdaq

SEC Files ICO-Related Enforcement Action Against ICOBox

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