1 3 December 2006

News:

The European Commission is publishing the final report of its sector inquiry into the payments card industry at the end of January, and Visa Europe is concerned that ill-considered intervention by regulators could undermine the Single European Payments Area (SEPA) and card payment growth.

Sharon Bowles, a Liberal Democrat MEP and member of the Committee on Economic & Monetary Affairs, will provide the keynote address at E-Finance & Payments Law & Policy's Special Briefing: The Payment Services Directive, hosted 25 January at the London offices of Sidley Austin.

Bank cards with pre-loaded payments were the fastest growing part of the European card market in 2006, according to Visa Europe.

Features:

Recently, the role of payment service providers and their use of personal data has been brought into sharp focus in the EU, following strong criticism by EU data protection regulators against the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) for providing personal data in payment messages to the US Treasury. In 2006, complaints were filed in thirty-three countries alleging that transfers of financial data by SWIFT to the US were contrary to EU data protection requirements. The matter highlights the difficult balance that needs to be struck between the competing interests of preserving the data protection rights of the individual, and the national security interests in preventing international terrorism.

With the Single European Payments Area (SEPA) due to commence in January 2008, the Payment Services Directive is crucial as the main legal framework which underpins SEPA. Sharon Bowles, Liberal Democrat MEP and member of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, sets out the latest developments in the passage of the Directive.

As in other business areas, organisations in the payments industry can obtain substantial rewards through the use of effective intellectual property policies. Brett Rowland and Lorna Hill of Sidley Austin explain the key issues organisations should consider in relation to employment contracts, patents, copyright and database rights.

A virtual world called Second Life recently created its first millionaire and has attracted ABN Amro and Wells Fargo to open virtual outlets. The financial capital invested by users in some virtual worlds is comparable with the GNP of some countries. In October, the Joint Economic Committee of the US Congress announced it would examine taxation and its application to virtual economies. David Birch, director, Consult Hyperion, examines the issues involved with regulating payments made in virtual worlds.

With the upsurge in activity as the European payment industry moves towards full SEPA compliance by 2010, Accenture recently published a report which gauges the perspectives and opinions of key decision-makers on SEPA and its anticipated impact. In this article, Antonio Iglesias del Rio, Senior Executive Financial Services, summarises the reports findings.

Regulators in the US financial sector have formally stated that sole reliance on single factor authentication is considered legally inadequate in the case of high-risk transactions. Thomas J. Smedinghoff, a partner at the law firm of Wildman Harrold in Chicago, and an American Bar Association representative to the Drafting Committee for the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA), highlights issues of which e-finance companies need to be aware.