Fintech regulations

Earlier this year, the Central Bank of Ireland announced plans to launch a fintech innovation hub, with the intention of engaging with all firms that are delivering innovation across the financial services sector, says Billy Hanley, senior development adviser for Enterprise Ireland.

The bureau announced the creation of the Global Financial Innovation Network for regulators to discuss joint policy work and offer a cross-border product testing process.

The agency’s decision to offer special-purpose charters for fintech companies raises questions about how those institutions will be overseen and the risks they could pose to the system.

The bureau wants to encourage more innovation without the threat of enforcement, but observers say regulators also need a testing ground to prove they can regulate fintech.

The administration’s recent report on fintech innovation discussed ways to adopt electronic promissory notes — or eNotes — and automated appraisals in federal mortgage programs.

The OCC has simplified language detailing how fintech charter applicants will clear requirements for meeting community needs. The move has some consumer groups worried.

Fintech firms have the federal option they have long sought, but meeting the agency’s application requirements will not be easy.

Treasury, OCC want to make it easier to compete with banks; the two banks will sell notes and other products through a broker network.

The decision, unveiled just hours after the Treasury Department endorsed the charter concept, means some fintech firms could soon be regulated more like banks.

The Trump administration is making more than 80 recommendations to encourage financial innovation within a regulated space, including endorsing the creation of a federal fintech charter.

Lawmakers approved legislation to enable coordination between state and federal regulators on examining banks' third-party vendor relationships.

The Conference of State Bank Supervisors says state and federal regulatory coordination on third-party technology service provider exams eliminates duplication

Paul Watkins served as chief counsel for the Arizona AG's 150-person civil litigation division and also headed up the office's fintech initiatives.

Other aggregators came to the bank's defense, while one CEO suggested Plaid's very public protest was unfounded.

Despite some criticisms of the strategy, community banks should continue to pair up with fintech companies that can help them expand their digital offerings.

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The Treasury secretary told lawmakers that the government needs “to strike the right balance” on Bank Secrecy Act requirements while determining the best way to collect details about account holders.

Raj Date’s new firm, FS Vector, will help cryptocurrency firms and digital upstarts navigate Washington.

Due to regulations that are designed to thwart money laundering, anyone attempting to transact on a global scale will encounter a patchwork of complex laws and local requirements that make payments anything but borderless, writes Brandon Spear, president of MSTS.

Despite some criticisms of the strategy, community banks should continue to pair up with fintech companies that can help them expand their digital offerings.