August 16, 2018, Cov Financial Services

Arizona recently became the first state in the U.S. to create a “regulatory sandbox” program to facilitate the development of innovative financial products and services. Such products would either incorporate new or emerging technology or reimagine uses of existing technology. The program would exempt participants from certain state financial regulations, but ...

August 9, 2018, Cov Financial Services

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection announced earlier this week that it would join ten non-US financial regulators in an alliance, called the Global Financial Innovation Network (GFIN), to encourage the growth of fintech — and, potentially, create a “global sandbox” for financial innovation. The alliance was initially proposed, in February 2018, by the ...

August 2, 2018, Cov Financial Services

On July 31, 2018, the U.S. Department of the Treasury released a report identifying numerous recommendations intended to promote constructive activities by nonbank financial institutions, embrace financial technology (“fintech”), and encourage innovation. This is the fourth and final report issued by Treasury pursuant to Executive Order 13772, which established ...

August 2, 2018, Cov Financial Services

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) announced yesterday that a nondepository financial technology (“fintech”) company that engages in a core banking activity, such as paying checks or lending money, can now apply for a special purpose national bank (“SPNB”) charter. This announcement followed shortly after the release of the Treasury ...

August 1, 2018, Bloomberg

Michael Nonaka is quoted in Bloomberg Law on the fintech industry’s enthusiasm regarding the Treasury Department’s recommendation that Congress support the “valid when made” doctrine. Mr. Nonaka adds, “The [recommendation] shows that these issues are not going away and that the uncertainty created from a growing body of inconsistent court opinions isn't a stable ...

July 31, 2018, Law360

Michael Nonaka is quoted in Law360 regarding the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency accepting applications for special-purpose national bank charters from financial technology companies. Mr. Nonaka says it will be a while before any fintech firms operate as national banks, and they may ultimately decide the special purpose charter does not suit their ...

July 25, 2018, Cov Financial Services

In response to questions from a Member of the European Parliament, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) has provided much needed clarification on the overlap between the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the EU Payment Services Directive (PSD2) in an open letter.  As we identified in a previous blog post on this topic, the...… Continue Reading

July 24, 2018, Cov Financial Services

Blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionise many industries; it has been said that “blockchain will do to the financial system what the internet did to media”.  Its most famous use is its role as the architecture of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin, however it has many other potential uses in the financial sector, for instance in...… Continue Reading

July 17, 2018, Cov Financial Services

On July 16, 2018, the Financial Stability Board (“FSB”) issued a report to the G20 Ministers of Finance and Central Bank Governors summarizing the work that the FSB and other international standard-setting bodies have undertaken regarding crypto-assets.  The FSB notably reported that it has developed a framework for monitoring financial stability risks related ...

July 10, 2018, Cov Financial Services

On July 5, 2018, Square, Inc. (“Square”) announced (paywall) that it had temporarily withdrawn a pending application with the FDIC to obtain deposit insurance for a proposed industrial loan company (“ILC”), in order to strengthen the application before reapplying. The company stated that a parallel application with the Utah Department of Financial Institutions ...

June 15, 2018, Cov Financial Services

The German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (“BaFin”) recently published an article that provides guidance on the regulatory framework for cloud computing.  This is a follow-up to the circular letter Minimum Requirements for Risk Management (“MaRisk”), which was published in German in October 2017 and the circular letter Supervisory Requirements for IT in ...

June 14, 2018, Cov Africa

As a startup founder, there are a number of issues vying for your attention on a daily basis, most of which are essential to the success of your business. Issues such as differentiating your product from competitors, developing stellar code, creating effective advertising, hiring the right staff and of course securing enough capital to fund...… Continue Reading

May 30, 2018, Cov Financial Services

This past week has been an especially active one for the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). On Monday, in a speech to the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), CFTC Chairman Giancarlo announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to increase cooperation between state securities regulators and the CFTC — particularly with ...

May 29, 2018, Bloomberg Law

Michael Nonaka is quoted in a Bloomberg Law article regarding guidance from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on small-dollar installment loans. The OCC was likely making an observation and statements of fact “rather than trying to write into the policy any discouragement of any bank-fintech partnership," says Nonaka. But the provision “does stick ...

April 25, 2018, Bloomberg Law

Michael Nonaka is quoted in a Bloomberg Law article regarding Rep. Patrick McHenry's statements at a recent conference stressing that a proposal to modify how banks comply with investment requirements in local communities must take account of new technologies such as mobile banking. According to Nonaka, the Treasury's report, which included recommendations for ...

April 12, 2018, The Recorder

The Recorder highlights the arrival of Suzanne Bell to Covington's Technology Transactions practice. Bell says she was attracted to the firm's strong regulatory practice given the increased intersection between the technology sector and government regulations. Bell adds that she is looking forward to using her experience in technology transactions to assist ...

April 3, 2018, Washington Lawyer

Michael Nonaka is quoted in a Washington Lawyer article regarding legal opportunities surrounding blockchain. While some lawyers might eventually become blockchain-specialty attorneys, blockchain is looking “more like a technology you have to know about if you’re in certain industries,” says Nonaka. For instance, highly regulated industries such as energy and ...

March 9, 2018, Cov Africa

When bitcoin entered the public’s eye for the first time in 2013, it was touted as one of the greatest inventions for the unbanked in Africa. The World Bank estimates that of the 2 billion people without access to the modern financial system, a third live in Sub-Saharan Africa. In recent months, bitcoin and cryptocurrency...… Continue Reading

March 2, 2018, Global Policy Watch

Bank-fintech partnerships are good for consumers and banks, as I recently explained in testimony to Congress during a hearing on the opportunities and challenges in the fintech marketplace. Consumers benefit because banks are able to use fintech to deliver safer, more transparent, lower cost and more convenient financial products and services to consumers over ...

January 31, 2018, Global Policy Watch

The European Commission (“EC”) has stated that the almost limitless list of potential use cases of distributed ledger technology (“DLT”) makes it both very promising and challenging, and has expressed its support for blockchain and DLT.[1]  However, many European institutions are still of the opinion that the technology is at its early stage of development,...… ...

August 3, 2017, Corporate Counsel Magazine

Michael Nonaka is quoted in a Corporate Counsel Magazine article regarding the Office of the Comptroller's argument that it cannot be sued over its plans for a special purpose national bank charter. According to Nonaka, "it's a fair assumption" the Conference of State Bank Supervisors would continue to pursue litigation against the OCC if the case is thrown out, ...

July 25, 2017, The Wall Street Journal

David Martin is quoted by The Wall Street Journal in an article regarding the SEC's warning on initial coin offerings. The SEC's report will likely "chill the waters a bit for these offerings," says Martin.

June 15, 2017, Law360

Michael Nonaka is quoted in a Law360 article examining how U.S. regulators are fostering fintech innovation. According to Nonaka, the CFTC and FINRA initiatives are important steps to get the agencies up to speed on fintech issues. “It’s certainly a step forward, it’s a step in the right direction for the regulators to be able to do new initiatives that will ...

May 31, 2017, The National Law Journal

Michael Nonaka is quoted by The National Law Journal in an article regarding the likelihood that the U.S. will introduce a regulatory sandbox for fintech companies to test new products and business models without regulatory consequences. According to Nonaka, there is "great value" in a sandbox for entrepreneurs, but "in order for a sandbox to work, you have to ...

May 24, 2017, Cov Africa

Earlier this month, more than 1,000 leaders from business, government, and civil society participated in the World Economic Forum on Africa in Durban in early May with the theme, “Achieving Inclusive Growth through Responsive and Responsible Leadership.” This note highlights several conversations relevant to the forum’s theme. The Leadership Challenge The ...

May 11, 2017, Forbes

Michael Nonaka is quoted in a Forbes article regarding the prospect of President Trump's taxing remittances for a Mexico border wall, and the possibility of an increase in the use of digital currencies as a result. In discussing banks and payment companies' experience in this field, Nonaka indicates that these institutions have taken the proposed rules in ...

May 1, 2017, BankBeat

Randy Benjenk is quoted in BankBeat regarding the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s decision to develop a limited purpose national banking charter for fintech. Commenting on the development of guidelines, Mr. Benjenk says, “the initiative began as a non-partisan issue, but it is turning more partisan as more details are put on the table, with different ...

January 6, 2017, Law360

Sebastian Vos is quoted in a Law360 article regarding the launch of a Global Blockchain Business Council at this year’s World Economic Forum by Covington and The Bitfury Group. “Blockchain has the potential to be the next great technological innovation, revolutionizing areas from cross-border payments, trade finance and land registries to government records,” ...

December 11, 2016, Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation

December 5, 2016, Covington Alert

On December 2, 2016, Comptroller of the Currency Thomas J. Curry announced that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) would move forward with issuing special purpose national bank charters to financial technology (“fintech”) companies. The OCC released a whitepaper1 outlining its authority to issue charters to fintech companies, its approach to ...