On The Web

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Regulation

Thai Government Trials Blockchain in Fight Against Tax Fraud

December 4 2018

• in
• Blockchain

“According to a report from the Bangkok Post on Monday, Thailand’s Revenue Department is considering implementing blockchain to prevent fraudulent VAT refund claims in the country. VAT is a form of consumption tax levied on goods and services. Ekniti Nitithanprapas, director-general of the Revenue Department was quoted as saying that blockchain would help verify VAT invoices and in […]

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Global

Zopa, the UK P2P lending company, secures bank license

December 4 2018

• in
• UK

“Technically, however, this is only regulatory part one and Zopa’s bank licence comes “with restrictions,” meaning that it can’t launch fully just yet. Known as the ‘mobilisation’ phase of the license process, Zopa should eventually be granted a full licence once it meets various conditions set by the regulators.”

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Regulation

Virtual Currencies as Commodities?

December 3 2018

“On September 26, 2018, a US federal court found that virtual currency constitutes a class of items that are commodities under the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”) because one member of that class, Bitcoin, is the subject of futures trading. [1]  This is the first judicial opinion to directly address the question of whether virtual currencies other than […]

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Regulation

Switzerland adopts new fintech authorisation rules

November 30 2018

“As of January 1, 2019,  firms that qualify for the new licencing regime will be able to accept public funds up to CHF100m ($100.2m) provided that they neither invest or pay interest on these funds. In addition to the amendments, the Federal Council, has also decided to extend its regulatory sandbox to include crowdlending business models. […]

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Regulation

Measure to ban cashless stores advances in New Jersey

December 6 2018

• in
• Cash

“A measure that would require all brick-and-mortar retailers to accept cash was unanimously approved by the N.J. Senate Commerce Committee and will now go before the full state Senate. The bill, which was overwhelming approved by the state Assembly in June, excludes retailers inside airports from the cash requirement, and also excludes sales made online […]

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Regulation

PayPal and iZettle takeover referred for deeper probe by competition watchdog

December 10 2018

“The UK’s antitrust watchdog has referred PayPal’s takeover of Swedish startup iZettle for an in-depth probe over fears it will force up prices for customers and lead to a worse quality in service. The Competition & Markets Authority warned late last month that the PayPal deal could result in “insufficient competition in the UK” for payments services.”

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Global

In the land where mobile payments are king, China says rejecting physical cash is illegal

December 10 2018

• in
• China

“China’s central bank on Monday warned that rejecting cash as a form of payment was illegal, saying that such practices could eventually cause the loss of confidence in physical money and was unfair to those not accustomed to electronic payments.”

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Regulation

Your Apps Know Where You Were Last Night, and They’re Not Keeping It Secret

December 10 2018

• in
• Privacy

“At least 75 companies receive anonymous, precise location data from apps whose users enable location services to get local news and weather or other information, The Times found. Several of those businesses claim to track up to 200 million mobile devices in the United States — about half those in use last year. The database […]

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Global

China To 600 Retailers: We Are Not A Mobile Payments-Only Society

December 10 2018

• in
• Cash
• China

“It’s kind of odd how often this has happened, but it seems that any time a government has pushed for a cashless society, it’s drawn back at the brink. The Indian government demonetized most—but not all—of its currency. Sweden’s push to go cashless prompted regrets of its own. And now China, where mobile payment were […]

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Regulation

Democratic senators have introduced a big new data privacy plan

December 13 2018

• in
• Privacy

“Under the act, data collectors would be required to “reasonably secure” identifying information, to not use that information in a harmful way, and to give notice to consumers about breaches of sensitive information. The requirement extends to third parties, if the data collectors share or sell that data with another entity, and the plan would […]