The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) have published an updated assessment of the UK’s access to cash infrastructure, taking into account the impact of coronavirus (Covid-19), alongside new research on consumers who rely on cash. The findings show that most people have reasonable access to cash through a combination of bank, building society, or Post Office branches and ATMs. The FCA and PSR estimate that 95.4% of the UK population are within 2km of a free cash access point and 99.7% are within 5 km. Consumers’ ability to access banking services and cash can be affected when banks and ATM providers make decisions to close branches and cash machines. Continue reading…

The European Commission has presented an ambitious package of legislative proposals to strengthen the EU’s anti-money laundering and countering terrorism financing (AML/CFT) rules. The package also includes the proposal for the creation of a new EU authority to fight money laundering. This package is part of the Commission’s commitment to protect EU citizens and the EU’s financial system from money laundering and terrorist financing. The aim of this package is to improve the detection of suspicious transactions and activities, and to close loopholes used by criminals to launder illicit proceeds or finance terrorist activities through the financial system. As recalled in the EU’s Security Union Strategy for 2020-2025, enhancing the EU’s framework for anti-money laundering and countering terrorist financing will also help to protect Europeans from terrorism and organised crime. Continue reading…

The proposals follow the introduction of climate-related disclosure rules for the most prominent listed commercial companies in December 2020 which are aligned with the recommendations of the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). In the consultations the FCA is proposing to extend the application of its TCFD-aligned Listing Rule for premium-listed commercial companies to issuers of standard listed equity shares; and to introduce TCFD-aligned disclosure requirements for asset managers, life insurers, and FCA-regulated pension providers, with a focus on the information needs of clients and consumers. Continue reading…

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has recently issued for consultation a proposal for a technical amendment to the Basel Framework. The amendment describes a new process that will be used by the Committee to review the assessment methodology for global systemically important banks (G-SIBs). The Committee assesses the systemic importance of global banks annually using an indicator-based methodology. It plans to replace the existing three-year review cycle of the assessment methodology with a process of ongoing monitoring and review. Continue reading…

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) recently published its Interim Report on the Lessons Learnt from the COVID-19 Pandemic from a Financial Stability Perspective. The report identifies preliminary lessons for financial stability and aspects of the functioning of the G20 financial reforms that may warrant attention at the international level. The COVID-19 pandemic is the first major test of the global financial system since the G20 reforms were put in place following the financial crisis of 2008. Thus far, the financial system has weathered the pandemic thanks to greater resilience, supported by the G20 reforms, and the swift, determined and bold international policy response. Continue reading…

by Michael Edesess

Nassim Nicholas Taleb doesn’t mince words. When he thinks that something is worthless, he says so. In a recent paper he says in no uncertain terms that bitcoin is worthless. However, those “uncertain terms” are not only in mathematical language but in Taleb-speak. They need some explanation and interpretation. I will provide it in this brief article. In a new paper, “Bitcoin, Currencies, and Fragility,” Taleb aims a scattergun at bitcoin and its underlying database technology, blockchain. Some of those scattershots merely ding bitcoin or blockchain only slightly, or not at all. But some of them hit the mark squarely. Continue reading…

Nikhil Rathi, Chief Executive of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), recently delivered a speech at the launch of the FCA’s Business Plan. When I became CEO last October, I joined a purposeful organisation. Our people working round the clock with great energy and to great effect to stand up for consumers and businesses affected by the pandemic. Almost five million payment deferrals granted across credit cards, loans and mortgages to people who had suddenly little or no money coming in. Businesses forced to close or scale back operations won insurance payments of more than three-quarters of a billion pounds for COVID-related losses thanks to our efforts in the Supreme Court. And all the while, the global markets we oversee proved resilient at a time of unique stress and volatility – laying the foundations for record capital raising this year to support economic recovery. Continue reading…

The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) recently decided to launch the investigation phase of a digital euro project. Following the decision, the President of the Eurogroup Paschal Donohoe joined the meeting, congratulated the Governing Council and expressed his full support for the project. “It has been nine months since we published our report on a digital euro. In that time, we have carried out further analysis, sought input from citizens and professionals, and conducted some experiments, with encouraging results. All of this has led us to decide to move up a gear and start the digital euro project”, says ECB President Christine Lagarde. “Our work aims to ensure that in the digital age citizens and firms continue to have access to the safest form of money, central bank money”. Continue reading…

Takedown of DoubleVPN makes it harder for criminal hackers to cover their tracks. This week, law enforcement and judicial authorities in Europe, the US and Canada have seized the web domains and server infrastructure of DoubleVPN. This is a virtual private network (VPN) service which provided a safe haven for cybercriminals to attack their victims. This coordinated takedown, led by the Dutch National Police (Politie), under jurisdiction of the National Public Prosecutor’s Office (Landelijk Parket), with international activity coordinated by Europol and Eurojust, has now ended the availability of this service.  Continue reading…