On October 29, the UK “Cryptoasset Taskforce,” consisting of HM Treasury, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Bank of England, published its final report setting out the United Kingdom’s policy and regulatory approach to cryptoassets and distributed ledger technology (DLT) in financial services. The Cryptoassets Taskforce was established in March 2018 as part of the United Kingdom’s strategy on the financial technology (FinTech) sector (for further details see the March 23edition of the Corporate & Financial Weekly Digest).
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On January 18, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, responding to increased industry interest in distributed ledger technology (DLT) known as “Blockchain,” issued a report on the uses and potential implications of this technology in the securities industry.

The report provides an overview of DLT and its applications in various markets as well as discussing governance, operational structure and security concerns. The report also discusses regulatory challenges for broker-dealers, noting that a DLT network may create new ways to hold customer funds, impact a member firm’s net capital requirements, afford market participants the ability to develop and maintain certain records on the network itself, and alter clearance and settlement processes.
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