I had the pleasure of joining @CFTC’s podcast, #CFTCTalks, where I discussed everything from what international trade and fintech surprisingly have in common, to regulating cryptocurrencies and blockchain, to the recent Fintech Week here in DC. The conversation can … Continue Reading
Hedged Positions: A Blog on International Finance, Trade and Regulation
LabCFTC provides a primer on Smart Contracts
Described as an “educational tool” rather than official policy, it provides an overview of the basics of blockchain smart contracts including their history, characteristics, case studies, potential use cases and perceived risks. The primer can be found here. The Coindesk … Continue Reading
Conclusions from the FCA’s Cryptoassets Taskforce
Chris Woolard has released a speech outlining conclusions reached by the FCA’s crypto-asset taskforce. It’s big news given the early activity and interest shown by the agency in terms of regulating the sector. The report is here, but some of … Continue Reading
The EU faces a steep hill on crypto-regulation
I’ve done a piece revamping my analysis on Mifid for purposes of crypto-regulation on fintechpolicy.org. Here are a couple of excerpts: Article 4.1 of MiFID contains the definition of transferable securities. This definition covers those classes of securities which are negotiable on … Continue Reading
My Brookings/C-span discussion of bank stress tests (and the future of financial regulation)
I had the pleasure of speaking on a panel after a speech delivered by Randall Quarles, the Vice Chairman of Supervision for the Federal Reserve, which concerned a variety of recent developments concerning the future of financial regulation. The … Continue Reading
William Hinman, Bryan Stirewalt, and Pradeep Belur to Join Fintech Week
Washington’s Fintech Week now welcomes the SEC’s Director of Corporate Finance, Bill Hinman (Monday), Bryan Stirewalt, Chief Executive of the Dubai Financial Services Authority (Tuesday), and the Small Business Authority’s Chief Operating Officer, Pradeep Belur (Wednesday), right before our Shark … Continue Reading
Traditional Banks are Adopting Digital Banking
The American Banker reports that as they face intense deposit competition from online-only banks, many traditional banks are looking to turbocharge their deposit gathering by launching — or considering launching — digital banks of their own. The interesting question will … Continue Reading
Thoughts on Cybersecurity Disclosures
Cybersecurity reporting is tough. As Wired magazine notes, “Reporting every tiny remediation to a regulator could be impractical, and might discourage organizations from looking for bugs in the first place. But some data exposures do rise to the level of … Continue Reading
Crypto-Enforcement Leads to Spike in Fintech Fines at CFTC
At a recent event in Minneapolis, CFTC chairman Christopher Giancarlo noted increased enforcement actions last year, partly due to fraudulent crypto cases. As a consequence, enforcement actions and fines increased significantly in the last fiscal year. The story can be … Continue Reading
Coin Desk Ranks Georgetown Among Top 10 “Blockchain Universities”
I’m absolutely delighted that Georgetown has been lauded by Coin Desk as one of the top-10 universities in the instruction of blockchain-related courses. My brand new course on ICOs, Cryptocurrencies, and the Law earned a special mention. The full ranking … Continue Reading