On November 11, the UK Jurisdiction Taskforce (UKJT) published a statement with two key findings on the legal status of cryptoassets and smart contracts under English law (the Statement). The UKJT is a taskforce of the LawTech Delivery Panel of the Law Society, which is the representative body for solicitors in England and Wales. The Statement was made following a public consultation, which closed in June 2019.
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FCA Publishes Cryptoasset AML/CFT Webpage
On October 25, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a new webpage setting out important information for UK cryptoasset businesses in the context of anti-money laundering (AML) and counter terrorist financing (CFT).
As announced in July 2019, the FCA will be the AML/CFT regulator for certain cryptoasset activities starting January 10, 2020. However, the scope of ‘cryptoasset activities’ is still to be determined by Her Majesty’s Treasury (HMT), whose consultation on the matter closed on June 10.…
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CFTC, FinCEN, and SEC Issue Joint Statement on Activities Involving Digital Assets
On October 11, the leaders of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), and the Securities and Exchange Commission (collectively, the Agencies) issued a joint statement reminding persons engaged in activities involving digital assets of their anti-money laundering (AML) and countering the financing of terrorism (CFT) obligations under the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 (BSA).…
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ESMA and EBA Respond to Letter From European Commission on Cryptoassets Work
On August 20, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a letter written jointly with the European Banking Authority (EBA) and addressed to the European Commission (EC) relating to cryptoassets. The letter responds to a letter from the Commission dated July 19.
The letter begins by welcoming the EC’s work responding to issues identified in the January 2019 reports by ESMA and the EBA on cryptoassets and initial coin offerings (for more information, see the January 11, 2019 edition of Corporate & Financial Weekly Digest). ESMA and the EBA agree that it is vital that further work progresses urgently to inform any actions taken by the new EC.…
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UK FCA Issues Final Guidance on Cryptoassets
By Neil Robson on
Posted in UK Developments
On July 31, 2019, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published its finalized guidance on cryptoassets in a Policy Statement (PS19/22) with the stated aim of providing better protection to market participants. …
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FINRA Publishes Notice to Members Encouraging Continued Disclosure of Digital Assets Activities
By Gary DeWaal, Michael T. Foley & Stanley V. Polit on
On July 18, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) published Regulatory Notice 19-24 (Notice), which encourages member firms to continue notifying their Regulatory Coordinators about their digital assets activities. The Notice extends the requested notification period originally set forth in Regulatory Notice 18-20 from July 31, 2019 to July 31, 2020. (For additional information regarding…
Division of Trading and Markets and FINRA Staffs Issue Joint Statement on Broker-Dealer Custody of Digital Asset Securities
By Michael T. Foley, Leonard Licht & Susan Light on
On July 8, in response to questions raised by market participants regarding the application of federal securities laws and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) rules to the custody of digital asset securities and transactions, the staffs of the Division of Trading and Markets (the Division) and FINRA issued a joint statement. The joint statement seeks to articulate and clarify various considerations pertinent to many of the questions raised, particularly with respect to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Customer Protection Rule applicable to SEC-registered broker-dealers.…
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FATF Publishes Updated Standards Include Interpretative Note on Virtual Assets
On July 3, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) published an updated version (dated June 2019) of its anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CTF) standards.
This version includes a recently adopted interpretative note to recommendation 15 (new technologies), in which the FATF explains how its standards apply to virtual asset activities and virtual asset service providers (VASPs).…
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CFTC Grants DCO Registration to Eris Clearing
By James M. Brady & Guy C. Dempsey Jr. on
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has issued an order granting registration as a derivatives clearing organization (DCO) to Eris Clearing, LLC. The order permits Eris Clearing to clear fully collateralized virtual currency futures contracts. These contracts will be listed for trading on Eris Clearing’s affiliate, Eris Exchange, LLC.…
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FCA Consults on Prohibiting Sale to Retail Clients of Investment Products Referencing Cryptoassets
On July 3, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a consultation paper (CP19/22) on prohibiting the sale, marketing and distribution to retail clients of derivatives and exchange traded notes (ETNs) referencing certain types of cryptoassets by firms acting in, or from, the UK.…
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