1 10 July 2007

News:

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international policy making body on financial crime, has rated the UK's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), housed within the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) as 'generally effective' in combating money laundering and terrorist financing. However, it also raised a number of concerns with the UK's current regulations.

Implementation of the EU's Financial Services Action Plan (FSAP) and integration of payments systems under the Single European Payments Area (SEPA), are being affected by 'a continuing tension' between integration and decentralisation in the area of financial stability, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned.

Online marketplace Amazon has targeted micro payments and payments systems developers with its Flexible Payments Service (FPS), launched on 3 August, which is set to compete with PayPal and Google Checkout.

Features:

At the end of June, the European Union came to an agreement with the US over the use of European banking data from the payments agency SWIFT ('Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications'). Under the agreement, the US will be able to continue using data from SWIFT, but subject to a set of unilateral commitments or representations of the US Treasury regarding their handling of EU-originating personal data received from SWIFT, which are to ensure that the transfer and use of data will now conform to EU data protection principles.

As concern surrounding identity theft in the United States continues, financial organisations are threatened by lawsuits over failures to ensure sufficient levels of corporate security, particularly in the form of class-action lawsuits where customers are affected on a nationwide basis. R. Bruce Allensworth, Andrew C. Glass, Ryan M. Tosi and David D. Christensen of K&L Gates' Boston office report on a recent US district court case where they successfully represented the defendants and which may limit class action liability for organisations that electronically store consumer personal information.

The newly established Payments Council has taken over from the Office of Fair Trading's (OFT) Payment Systems Task force in setting and implementing the strategic vision for the UK payments industry. In this article, Chairman Brian Pomeroy sets out the role, powers, composition and aims of the Payments Council.

Australia's new anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) legislation will apply to overseas entities with even minimal connection with Australia, as well as to Australian entities providing services overseas. Ros Grady, a partner in the Melbourne office of Mallesons Stephen Jaques, explains what the legislation targets, the key obligations that it places on companies and suggests courses of action for companies conducting business in Australia.

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit dismissed a claim from Perfect 10, which alleged that Visa and others had 'secondarily' infringed its copyright by continuing to provide payment services to internet sites that traded in images stolen from Perfect 10. Michael Vatis, a partner in the New York office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP, explains that although it represents a victory for payment processors, the decision is worth keeping an eye on, as lawmakers could decide on a reversal.

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) has signed up to the US Federal Trade Commission's 'safe harbor' principles for the processing of financial data originating from Europe, as authorities sought to settle arguments over the transfer of data between the US and the EU. Anne Conaty and Navene Alim, of Berwin Leighton Paisner's London office, examine the changes SWIFT has made, their implications for banks and payment processors and discuss possible routes forward for the transfer of financial data between the US and the EU.

The processing of electronic payments in the UK is currently undergoing a significant change. This innovation, known as the faster payments service, will allow banks to provide customers with a service that enables them to transfer money in hours rather than days.