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Regulation

Looking for regulation and innovation in the same room

After recently attending conferences in Zurich and Paris, with most of the audience coming from the banking community, this week is Money2020 in Amsterdam and the discussions are very different. What’s the difference? Well, bankers debate regulations and fintechs discuss innovations. It constantly strikes me that, during the 2000s, I spent most of my time…

How regulations are forcing banks to open branches

I wandered back into the old world of EU regulations the other day in Switzerland, debating CRD VI and the demand that banks must have branches in every EU country when they offer full service banking, including deposits and lending. Well, that’s one interpretation. The whole thing is about the new Capital Requirements Directive, the…

Equivalence + Proportionality + Subsidiarity = ?

Having been back in the regulatory space again recently, it reminded me of a comment made by one European Commissioner when discussing MiFID back in the day. Over drinks, we were debating the wording and detail and he said: “the point is not to get all member states to comply … the point is to…

The FCA’s five year vision

It’s funny that I’m blogging so much about trust and identity, but that seems to be the theme of the year. So when I saw the new release of the Financial Conduct Authority’s five-year vision I was struck by the Chair’s opening page, which is all about trust. Ashley Alder writes: “When financial services are strong…

European regulation strangulation, part 2

America innovates, China replicates and Europe regulates I often find the maze of European regulations hard to follow and track. It’s ok if you’re tracking one – like the Payment Service Directives and Regulations – but when you’re trying to track many, it’s an ever changing cauldron. Right now, I’m trying to work out with…

Is 2025 Meta’s nemesis year?

Thinking about the Big Tech firms, most of them are enabling commerce. Amazon and Apple are building specific structures to make buying and selling easy. But one company is enabling fraud, scams and criminal activities. Meta. Meta runs Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, as well as many other ventures from augmented reality to their X-like idea…

When will everything, everywhere be open? Oh, around 10:33

I had a chat with a friend the other day about Open Banking and they asked if I’d heard about 1033. 1033? Is that a PIN code for their cash? No. As it turns out, 1033 is the section of the USA’s Consumer Financial Protection Act that will introduce Open Banking to our American friends….

Who are you? eIDAS2!

I recently stumbled across an update of eIDAS. Have you heard of it, eIDAS2? It’s all about our digital identities in the European Union. The first eIDAS – short for electronic Identification, Authentication, and trust Services – tried to sort out all the ways to recognise who you are online. That first version was implemented…

Can you close the gate after the horse has bolted?

We need global regulation of all technology … but can we? Building on yesterday’s piece, there is a call in many circles for the global regulation of Big Tech. In fact it goes far further than Big Tech. It’s a call for regulating everything online. From cryptocurrencies to social media to artificial intelligence … it…

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