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Five Fundamental Changes in fintech from FCA

...he business plan can cost a license for the company. **Higher standards and more guidance** During recent years, the FCA has been continuously raising standards for non-bank payment services providers. The regulator focuses on making sure that fintech companies do not harm consumers and that they are resilient. Regulated entities must have adequate capital, liquidity and reserves to cover o...

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Gibraltar and Hong Kong plan to work together on the fintech sectors development

The end of March was commemorated by the signing of the world’s **first financial Technology Cooperation Agreement**. During recent years Financial technology sector has been rapidly gaining popularity all over the world, therefore, aiming to be fintech pioneers, **Gibraltar** and **Hong Kong** were the first ones to enter into an official agreement regarding the development of this sector, th...

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Gibraltar Goes fintech: Next Destination - Hong Kong

fintech sector takes over almost every facet of our lives now. Every company that deals with the financial matters is looking forward to use the newest technologies in their activities. **Gibraltar** is not an exception and its Minister of Commerce, Albert Isola, went on a trip with a delegation regarding the plans on innovations. **Hong Kong fintech Week** is an event where major financial se...

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The great step towards China

...st options for each jurisdiction delivering the most complex legal and financial services in the most professional way, while always minding personal preferences."* This three-day event brought closer together traders, investors, affiliates, IBs, fintech companies and brokers from across China and the world. With the rapidly growing financial market here in China, this event provided the know-h...

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Canada is Planning to Restrict Cryptocurrency Short Selling

...ne who had access to cold wallets which held $250 million of customers funds. The CSA and the IIROC have registered a joint consultation paper, called Proposed Framework for Crypto-Asset Trading Platforms last Thursday, looking for input from the fintech community on how regulatory requirements can be developed for cryptocurrency platforms. The regulators highlighted their main concerns at the ...

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From now on, Cryptocurrency Transactions are under strict AML regulation in Israel

...r Combating Terror Financing and Money Laundering has significantly increased their efforts in fighting with the money laundering throughout the digital assets. The authority will monitor not only mainstream assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum, but fintech and other financial products as well – in order to make the innovative digital financial tools secure for transactions. Shlomit Wegman, the ...

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Brand-new product - Crypto Exchange & Wallet License in Lithuania

...ilable in Lithuania in year 2020. It is important to note that the company and license setup can be both made remotely, with no requirements to travel to the country. The capital of Lithuania, Vilnius, is a well-known in Europe for its developed fintech services and now received much more attention because of its crypto exchange services licensing regulations. In comparison to another Baltic c...

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South Korea is planning to establish Crypto-Focused Bureau

...setting up a new authority in order to study Crypto Investments** **Main purpose of the freshly-formed division is crypto investments aspects assessment in order to develop new regulation.** SEC, Nigerian financial market regulator, has set up a fintech division to study all crypto-related investments and products to assess the feasibility of establishing a regulatory framework. According to t...

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Local Swiss Authority Planning to Accept Taxes in Cryptocurrency

...e to the Canton of Zug. Zug is one of the 26 cantons (member states) of Switzerland. The state is located in central Switzerland, and Zug is often referred to as Crypto Valley. The canton of Zug has become the home of several crypto companies and fintech startups. The location is one of the top spots for such kind of businesses dealing with global blockchain and digital currency because if its ...

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Potential PayPal Entry into Cryptocurrency Market

**fintech giant PayPal could potentially be making an entrance into the cryptocurrency market by offering its clients the ability to buy and sell cryptocurrencies.** PayPal plans to carry out direct sales of cryptocurrency to its 325 million users. At the moment, PayPal can be used as an alternative way for withdrawing funds from exchanges such as Coinbase, but this would be a first method of ...

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Launch of a new EU trade body - The European Digital Payments Industry Alliance

...de body that represents particular digital payment services providers that are based in Europe and do not get involved directly in banking services. Europe has a wealth of world-class payments institutions which have become strongholds of Europe’s fintech environment Based on member experience EDPIA would offer European perspective and valuable insights payments service providers industry. EDPIA...

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Impact of New Legal Framework on Estonian Crypto Market

Since the establishment of fintech as an independent banking field, crypto exchanges have tried to find the right license that will enable them to conduct business with a possibly lowest limit of regulation, at the same time still trying to comply with local framework. Estonia is one of the most advanced digital nations and also the first country, which has implemented e-residency for global ...

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South Africa’s Introduction to Crypto Regulation

...lear-cut crypto regulatory infrastructure that promotes innovation. Regulators fear that major blockchain firms operating outside the scope of their legislative control in the future. Considering that, last week South Africa’s Intergovernmental fintech Working Group (IFWG), whose members include the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), the Financial Sector Conduct Authority and the National Tre...

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The evolution of Forex in the 21st century

...able to attain trillions in trading per day in the 21st century. Although the rapid development has been accounted for the 20th century, the figure of more than 5 trillion USD seemed inconceivable. Why such figure has been reached? The answer is – fintech. Financial technology transformed the FX market by bringing online banking, the Single European Act, the UK’s Big Bang Movement, and, pe...

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Bermuda became the first government to accept digital currency payments

....**This cryptocurrency is the second most popular and the fastest-growing stablecoin in the world. USD Coins are backed 1:1 with US dollars since these are fully collateralized US dollar stablecoins. This summer Bermuda issued a full license to a fintech company Circle. Under the Bermuda Digital Asset Act, the payments technology company gained permission to operate a payment system based on US...

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Mauritius has announced new regulatory framework for security token offering

...ments. Every issuer raising funds through STO's shall conduct suitable due diligence of its project, team and the rights and obligations regarding the assets backing the tokens. As you may see, the Mauritius regulator remains highly supportive of fintech-related initiatives within the country. The above-mentioned guideline follows a first clarification note from the regulator, issued in Septemb...

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Mandate registration is coming! South Africa wants to regulate crypto

...eover, the cryptocurrency service providers would also have to abide new AML&CFT requirement with regards to suspicious transactions, such as cash transactions of R25,000 and more. Read our blog in order to stay updated with the latest crypto and fintech news.

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Malaysia is planning to regulate initial coin offerings as securities offerings

... protection.” The above-mentioned declarations still leave some level of uncertainty in relation to the legal status of cryptocurrencies in contrast to ICO tokens in Malaysia. Read our blog in order to stay updated with the latest crypto and fintech news.

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Ethereum has attracted considerable interest of the CFTC

...hnology, to how it can be used. Respondents will have 60 days from the RFI’s announcement date to submit their answers via email, mail or by hand delivery. The press release states the CFTC expects that the information received will benefit its fintech initiative (LabCFTC), and assist to shape the Commission’s knowledge of these crypto-technology. The CFT will start to monitor Ethereum m...

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New crypto regulation from Switzerland

**FINMA (Switzerland’s Financial Market Supervisory Authority) has recently announced a new fintech license**, with moderate conditions, that is appropriate to blockchain and cryptocurrency-based companies. On 3rd December, 2018 the regulator stated that the new regulation will grant recognized “innovative financial companies” the ability to accept public deposits of up to 100 million Sw...

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Top 5 crypto-friendly jurisdictions

...litical freedoms. Gibraltar is actively using its status in order to become the greatest blockchain hub in the Mediterranean. The main purpose here is to help with crypto-friendly legislation. During the past year, Gibraltar created a license for fintech companies to attract blockchain start-ups. But it didn’t stop there, and this year, the Gibraltar government succeeded in drafting a regulat...

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Two of Malta's blockchain acts came into force

...licenses, applicants will have to file an application through an authorized VFA Agency. The terms of consideration of such applications vary from 3 to 6 months. **Offshorelicense** is establishing itself as a leading consulting company within the fintech and crypto industries. If you are interested in incorporating Maltese company or obtaining one of the newly created licenses, you are welcome ...

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Singapore authorities are planning to support crypto startups with receiving banking services

...ngapore (MAS), also known as the city-state's central bank, is currently working on the new approach to provide cryptocurrency startups with internal banking services. The above-mentioned development is part of the country's efforts to boost its fintech development sector. Based on the statement of Ravi Menon, MAS managing director, the **government of Singapore is currently trying to “bring...

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Singapore clarified new requirements for digital advisors

Recently **the MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore) has announced a lot of new rules and initiatives planned to develop the government fintech industry**, with its latest move purposed at making life easier for digital investment consultants that operate as financial advisers. The MAS has made great progress in facilitating the use of modern technologies in the financial services area. The a...

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Fresh breath of air for innovative financial services in Labuan

**Labuan Financial Services Authority (LFSA) supports innovative financial services (IFS)** such as fintech and assists Labuan entities in case of providing related to fintech activities. LFSA expressed its interest in attracting “Innovative Financial Services” to the region including businesses involved in distributed ledger technology and cryptocurrencies as it stated in “Circular on ...

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Mauritius is willing to adapt distributed ledger technology and acknowledge the cryptocurrency as digital asset

... for smaller economies (for instance Mauritius) to open new and innovative growth perspectives. For this reason, **Mauritius is embracing blockchain technologies and acknowledges cryptocurrencies as digital assets to become the Financial Technology (fintech) Hub for Africa.** Prime minister of Mauritius, Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, said that Mauritius is moving faster to an age of digitization and ...

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Swiss regulator launches proceedings against ICO issuer

...ed to ensure that innovators can launch their ICO projects lawfully. As you may know **FINMA has already published guidelines for ICO projects in February 2018**. Stay tuned with **Offshorelicense** to be informed of all legal news in relation to fintech, legaltech and other digital industries.

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Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission is planning to establish an Innovative Hub

**The Cyprus regulator wants to establish a two-way working relationship with fintech and RegTech developments.** Regulatory and financial technologies initiatives have been spreading across the globe over the past few years. In late July of 2018, the main Cyprus financial regulator, the **Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), announced that it would also be creating an Innovati...

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Did Cayman become a top choice for blockchain business?

Last couple of years confirmed that the **Cayman Islands is one of the top jurisdictions for innovative fintech business**. Why is that so? In February 2018, Cayman Premier, Alden McLaughlin, confirmed that statistically, Cayman is now in top-three countries for blockchain entrepreneurs. Since 2012, the special tax-free economic zone, Cayman Enterprise City, functions in Cayman by attracting sta...

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How RootAnt Makes Brokerage in China Easier

...ea was to create a solution that will be mutually beneficial for brokers, traders and investors. Everyone should know how the system works and be able to check all data of your transactions. Positive user experience is now an important part of every fintech solution. The reason is that traders, brokers and other users are there to do business, they are not ready to tolerate inconveniences and lags...

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Vanuatu is Willing to Move Its Financial Dealers Onshore

...nsition from 'offshore activities' to 'onshore export of services'. St-Hilaire says: “Vanuatu wants to bring about a sea change in the way it does business, by transitioning from an offshore, protected financial center to an onshore transparent fintech center.” We understand, that such amendments in legislation may scare many of our customers from starting a business in Vanuatu. However,...

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