In a recent ruling, the District of Colorado granted several motions to dismiss filed by the developers and owners of cryptocurrency application Atomic Wallet, citing a lack of personal jurisdiction. This decision effectively...more
The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have launched a joint call for information on the opportunities and risks of digital wallets for people and businesses. This comes as recent data...more
The last week of June saw a flurry of legal developments in quick succession. The SEC sued Consensys, the developers of the largest self-custodial digital wallet (MetaMask). The IRS released its digital asset tax rules. The...more
Recently, three Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Financial Services Committee, Patrick McHenry, Mike Flood, and French Hill, sent a joint letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or...more
On February 15, 2024, Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Jack Reed (D-RI) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) sent a letter to Zelle seeking clarification of its reimbursement policy for victims of imposter scams and urging Zelle to...more
Patrick McHenry, the Republican Chair of the House Financial Services Committee, and two other Republican Committee members have sent a letter to Director Chopra regarding the CFPB’s proposed rule to supervise nonbank...more
The 24th National Forum on Prepaid Accounts Compliance will address the latest developments impacting the prepaid industry and provide answers to the most pressing questions and challenges being faced by practitioners in this...more
In this article, we share a timeline of our monthly "bites" for 2023 applicable to fintech. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and its director, Rohit Chopra, continued the agency's focus on the everyday consumer...more
On November 7, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB") issued a proposed rule that would grant it supervisory authority over major nonbank technology companies in the consumer digital payments space....more
The CFPB has issued a proposed rule to supervise nonbank companies that qualify as larger participants in a market for “general-use digital consumer payment applications.” Comments on the proposal are due by January 8, 2024...more
On November 7, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a proposed rule with request for public comment to amend existing regulations defining “larger participants” the CFPB supervises by adding a new section to...more
Legislation Targets Unhosted Wallets, Validators and Digital Asset ATMs - On July 28th, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), reintroduced the...more
Cryptocurrency, and its most-noted asset Bitcoin, has been breaking into the mainstream press. While most lawyers have heard terms like “blockchain” and probably even know a few people who have been deeply interested in the...more
On 18 December, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) at the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced highly anticipated and controversial new proposed requirements designed to mitigate illicit finance risks...more
On October 1, 2020, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued an advisory “to highlight the sanctions risks associated with ransomware payments related to malicious cyber-enabled...more
Upgraded legislation creates an enhanced regulatory framework for the new age of payments, including e-money and digital payment tokens. After much anticipation, and following consultations with the industry at large, the...more
Last week, on the heels of a significant decline in Bitcoin prices, Forbes reported that China’s Central Bank is set to launch the world’s first state-backed cryptocurrency. The cryptocurrency will be made available initially...more
On August 21, 2019, FinCEN issued an advisory (the “Advisory”) alerting financial institutions to various financial schemes and mechanisms employed by fentanyl and synthetic opioid traffickers to facilitate the illegal...more
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) recently issued guidance consolidating current FinCEN regulations, rulings, and guidance about cryptocurrencies and money services businesses (MSBs) under the Bank Secrecy Act...more
• On November 28, 2018, OFAC designated two Iran-based individuals who helped exchange cryptocurrency (bitcoin) into fiat currency on behalf of alleged ransomware perpetrators who targeted U.S. businesses and municipal...more
The Financial Conduct Authority has published a report on the outcome of its thematic review into money laundering and terrorist financing risks in the e-money sector. The report focuses on e-money products, including prepaid...more