The Fed looks to supervise banks' involvement in crypto and fintech. Innovation is the focus but their approach will determine if successful.
New regulations for peer-to-peer lending in Thailand are scheduled for approval by the end of the year; the new regulations will be formulated from an open comment, public hearing which ended on October 15; a licensing process is also expected to follow in 2017. Source
New regulations slowed the growth of P2P lending in China in 2016; data from P2P001 reports that transaction volume in P2P lending increased by 138% in 2016 to over 2.8 trillion yuan ($403 billion) however that was only half of the transaction volume growth reported in 2014 and 2015; on August 24, 2016 the government issued new requirements for the industry, one of which requires that lenders partner with banks for custodian services; this adds additional costs for lenders and as of the end of 2016 only 7.98% had partnered with a custodian bank. Source
Business Insider has released a report on US regulation and fintech; says US regulation is a hindrance to the growth of the industry and is slowing its potential; the report titled, "The US Fintech Regulation Report," provides details on regulatory agencies' involvement with fintech and outlines their initiatives; explains the negative effects of regulation on the industry. Source
Representative Patrick McHenry says Dodd-Frank reform is not likely to make it to the House of Representatives until June or July; he is confident in major changes for the regulation from the House of Representatives however he foresees opposition from Senate democrats; in an interview with WSJ Pro Financial Regulation he also provided his insight on a range of regulatory aspects which could be integrated into legislation in various ways. Source
Passporting could increase fintech competitiveness across Europe as the UK prepares to leave the European Union; passporting would lower regulatory requirements for fintech firms in the European Union allowing them to operate more freely across Europe; it would also create greater incentive for firms to move their business to the European Union and away from London; the European Commission has launched a three month consultation period on passporting and new legislations for fintechs which will be followed with legislative proposals; on Thursday, March 23 the European Commission also published a plan for European Union financial services companies that will focus on reducing costs and increasing consumer protection. Source
Earned Wage Access has specific legislation in Nevada, Missouri and now Wisconsin after the governor signed a new law this week.
The Federal Reserve made several changes to the Main Street Lending Program on Monday that should result in more businesses...
The UK's Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance (CCAF) is actively involved in industry research and is currently doing three alternative finance surveys; much of the research is in conjunction with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), providing insight for its crowdfunding consultation period; CCAF is surveying crowdfunding investors and crowdfunding borrowers; CCAF has also announced it will now be doing a survey on blockchain and cryptocurrencies; as part of the FCA's regulatory study, CCAF is working with 25 crowdfunding and P2P lending platforms in the UK to gain greater insight into the crowdfunding ecosystem. Source
In 2016 government regulators became more involved in the fintech industry in a variety of ways; while new regulations were discussed across the globe, governments also got more involved in the industry through sandbox and innovation programs; China's fintech market continued to grow in 2016 with both private market funding and fintech company growth; in 2016 robo advisors and blockchain emerged with new services; the market now offers a broader range of robo advisor services and the leading asset managers have introduced their own platforms; blockchain also reported unprecedented growth with distributed ledger being used for a wider variety of solutions across all industries; all of these industry developments are expected to remain in focus for 2017. Source