On The Web

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Global

Mastercard files complaint against Indian protectionism of RuPay

November 5 2018

“Having recently complied with new rules laid out by the Indian government surrounding personal and transaction data – a directive that sparked aggressive lobbying effort from US companies who said the rules would increase their infrastructure costs, hit their global fraud detection platforms and affect planned investments in India – Mastercard has now made an […]

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Regulation

SEC Official Says ‘Plain English’ Guidance On ICOs Is Coming

November 5 2018

“The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) plans to clarify when and how cryptocurrencies may be classified as securities, its director of Corporation Finance said Monday. Speaking at the D.C. Fintech Week conference, SEC director William Hinman said the regulatory agency intends to release “plain English” guidance for developers to refer to when planning token offerings.”

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Global

India considers outlawing cryptocurrency use (but blockchain is still cool)

November 1 2018

• in
• Cryptocurrencies
• India

“It seems India has no intention of slowing down its crusade against cryptocurrencies – but at least, it might be open to experimenting with distributed ledger tech. Following a meeting of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC), the government is contemplating devising an appropriate legal framework to ban the use of cryptocurrency in India – and encourage […]

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Regulation

It’s Time for Payment Processors Like Stripe and Paypal to Start Publishing Transparency Reports

October 31 2018

• in
• Privacy

“Modern payment processors are making hard choices every day about how and when they’ll stand up for users. Whether they comply with or reject a government request for user data and whether they shut down an account or leave it up can have enormous ramifications for what types of speech can thrive online. These choices […]

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Regulation

The Amex Decision: Cataloguing the Discussions, Debates, and Disagreements

November 6 2018

• in
• Litigation

“This debate is wide-ranging and hits on many practical and philosophical parts of antitrust policy. This post attempts to break down the discussion and disagreements into discrete arguments that can, perhaps, help newcomers understand the debate.”

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Global

Hungarian national m-payment system struck down by EU court

November 8 2018

• in
• Hungary
• Regulatory environment

“The EU Court of Justice has struck down Hungary’s national mobile payments system, saying the monopoly violates the EU’s Services Directive. The European Commission brought the case against the country. The company Nemzeti Mobilfizetesi operates the national mobile payment system since 2014, and use of its services is mandatory for mobile payments of public parking charges, road […]

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Glenbrook

Madness in Marijuana Payments – Part 2

November 16 2018

“Since my April 2018 post, there’s been a lot of activity in the “land of weed.” Multiple countries and U.S. states have moved toward legalization. Major non-cannabis industries are investing heavily in cannabis related products and cannabis-based companies. With U.S. Attorney Jeff Sessions out his strict stance against marijuana perhaps no longer holding, many are suggesting […]

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Regulation

Credit Suisse, UBS Probed Over Alleged Payments Collusion

November 15 2018

“The regulator said it suspects that the companies colluded in an effort to prefer Swiss payment provider Twint by agreeing not to release their credit cards for use by services like Apple Pay and Samsung Pay. As part of the investigation, which started Nov. 13, offices of the companies were raided, the antitrust authority known […]

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Regulation

New IoT Security Regulations

November 14 2018

“California’s new SB 327 law, which will take effect in January 2020, requires all “connected devices” to have a “reasonable security feature.” The good news is that the term “connected devices” is broadly defined to include just about everything connected to the Internet. The not-so-good news is that “reasonable security” remains defined such that companies trying […]

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Regulation

British Competition Regulators Probe PayPal’s Takeover of iZettle

November 27 2018

“The United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority announced Monday that its initial investigation has found that PayPal Holdings Inc.’s September acquisition of Swedish processor iZettle AB could reduce competition or raise prices in the payments market. But whether the antitrust regulator will unwind the deal is far from certain.”