As we highlighted in our last quarterly Fintech update in 2023, a new regulatory framework under the Retail Payments Activities Act (RPAA) will soon affect all retail payment service providers (PSPs) doing business in Canada. PSPs will be able to register with the Bank of Canada from November 1 to 15, 2024, with compliance obligations to take effect in 2025. The Bank of Canada recently released draft supervisory guidelines to help PSPs understand those compliance obligations (copies of which can be found on the Bank of...

The focus is squarely on the US employment report. At the risk of oversimplifying, given the position adjustment in the past 48 hours, a solid report can see the greenback recover, while a disappointing report will likely see it deepen the correction of the rally that began with the February jobs report. The dollar recovered in the North American afternoon yesterday and many observers attributed it to the bevy of Fed comments. Yet, the interest rate market saw little...

In our current constrained market with high interest rates, financial institutions are looking for new revenue streams and for ways to speed up operations and cut costs. A blockchain-based technology, tokenization, can help deliver value in these areas, right now. Tokenization lets you digitally represent asset ownership for any tangible or intangible asset — stocks or bonds, cash or cryptocurrency, data sets or loyalty points — on a blockchain. Once your asset is represented by a token, you can quickly...

The first comprehensive AI regulation in the world aims for strong protection against harmful impacts. What does that mean? 1. Context After much anticipation, the EU Parliament formally adopted the final version of the proposal for an EU regulation laying down harmonised rules on artificial intelligence (AI Act) on 13 March 2024. The text is still subject to a final lawyer-linguist check and needs to be formally endorsed by the Council of the EU. Initially proposed by the EU Commission in...

Sika has acquired Kwik Bond Polymers, LLC (KBP), a manufacturer of polymer systems for the refurbishment of concrete infrastructure. For over 30 years, KBP has focused on the refurbishment of bridge decks and has established an impressive track record in signature projects across the USA. The business perfectly complements Sika’s high value-added systems for refurbishment of concrete structures. KBP has a proven product offering that includes polymer technologies providing long-lasting protection of bridge decks and other concrete infrastructure applications. By increasing the...

The recent Euro CLO Forum in London, co-hosted by IMN and FIIN, brought together industry leaders to discuss the state of the European collateralized loan obligation (CLO) market in the wake of 2023's significant interest rate hikes. While concerns lingered, the sentiment at the conference portrayed a newfound stability in the market, with loan defaults trending lower than expected. Panelists at the conference also analyzed topics such as the impact of tighter AAA spreads in the market and how investors are...

Large technology companies and innovators in the consumer financial services space should expect to see stepped up regulatory attention ahead. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) continues to increase its focus on data-intensive business practices and “large technology conglomerates” in consumer finance, as evidenced by the recent statement of Director Rohit Chopra and Chief Technologist Erie Meyer. The statement announces the CFPB’s efforts to step up its capabilities to address “transformative technologies.”1 This statement was made in conjunction with a statement from the Federal...

On March 1, 2024, Judge Liles Burke of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama issued a decision in National Small Business United d/b/a National Small Business Association v. Yellen (Case No. 5:22-cv-1448-LCB) stating that the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) is unconstitutional. In response to some reports calling this decision the “death” of the CTA, we wanted to provide an update on the status of the matter in our view. On November 15, 2022, the National Small Business Association...