2 10 October 2008

News:

The European Commission estimates that its reform of the e-money Directive will stimulate a €9 billion growth in the value of Europe's e-money market, from €1 billion in 2007 to €10 billion by 2012. The Commission hopes to attract between 125 and 300 new e-money institutions to add to the 20 (plus 127 operating under a waiver) currently licensed.

The European Payments Council (EPC) is to vote on whether to approve version two of the 'SEPA Cards Framework Standardisation Volume: Payments and Withdrawals with Cards in SEPA' on 17 December in Brussels, however will continue consultation with retailers in 2009, following complaints over lack of consultation time.

Online consumer spending will not be boosted by Christmas in the US due to the impact of the credit crunch, according to the eBillme Online Spending Index, which reported that online spending will not increase from a third quarter average of $100 - $250 per person during the fourth quarter of the year.

Features:

There seems to be no let up in the number of high profile data security breaches in the UK, particularly by Government departments. Last month, the UK's National Health Service (NHS) apologised for having misplaced a USB stick containing confidential details of 200 patients, which was later found in a street. A UK Government subcontractor also recently misplaced another USB stick which contained user names and passwords for a Gateway website - a key Government computer system. It was claimed that the personal details of 12 million people registered on the Gateway website - which allows registered members to access hundreds of government services including self-assessment tax returns, pension entitlements and child benefits - could have been at risk. However, the HM Revenue and Customs' incident in November 2007, where two disks containing the details of 25 million recipients of Child Benefits payments were lost, has caused the greatest public outcry.

In the US, there are currently only 11 states that have laws surrounding pre-paid phone card fraud. In addition to the state laws, under Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Act, the FTC has the authority to bring cases against companies and individuals for deceptive or unfair behaviour that affects commerce. Brian W. Smith and Angela Angelovska-Wilson, of Latham & Watkins LLP, discuss recent FTC enforcement actions, state enforcement actions and proposed federal regulation to combat fraud and deceptive marketing practices surrounding the pre-paid phone card industry.

The UK Government has announced details of a Scheme that allows banks and building societies to apply to have securities guaranteed by Her Majesty's Treasury. John Casanova and Rachpal Thind examine the Treasury's approval process, the length of the guarantee, the details of how to apply, the criteria used to ascertain if a guarantee can be granted and the rules on when guarantee payments will be made by the Treasury.

The European Commission recently published a proposal to replace the E-Money Directive, which it considers has hindered the take up of e-money in the European Union. John Casanova and William Long, of Sidley Austin LLP, examine the Commission's proposed Directive and how it deals with issues such as the definition and scope of e-money, safeguarding requirements, anti-money laundering and conditions on redemption.

Losses from plastic card fraud in the UK have increased by 14% in the first six months of 2008 over the comparative period in 2007. Katy Worobec, Head of the Fraud Control Unit at APACS, the UK Payments Association, outlines the reasons for the change as well as the positive steps the banking industry has taken to prevent fraud, such as the establishment of a central shared fraud reporting database.

Israel's data protection authority (ILITA) expressed concerns after Israeli banks were ordered to divest their holdings in pension funds and mutual funds, transferring client databases containing sensitive financial information to new owners. Yoram Hacohen, head of the ILITA and Omer Tene, Associate Professor at the College Management School of Law, examine the concerns and how they were resolved.

Germany's Federal Banking Supervision Authority (BaFin) has refused to recognise most e-payment providers as being compliant with the Banking Act, which incorporates any payment provider offering services in German to German account holders. Dr. Michael Hettich, a Junior Partner with Hambach & Hambach, discusses how the Payment Services Directive will force the BaFin to change its strict interpretation of e-money as that stored on a medium owned by the customer, and the implications that this will have for payment providers.