3 5 May 2009

News:

National SEPA France's Committee is delaying the launch of Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) direct debits until one year after the Payment Services Directive's (PSD) 1 November deadline, a decision that could affect the willingness of banks in other countries to adopt SEPA direct debits.

The European Parliament adopted two legislative proposals from the European Commission on electronic money and cross-border payments on 24 April. The first text revises current rules governing cross-border payments and the second revises conditions for issuing e-money in the EU. The texts have been sent to the Council of the European Union for approval.

The US Senate will meet on 19 May, to resume consideration of the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights Act of 2009, after it withdrew a 'cloture' motion by unanimous consent, on 15 May. A 'cloture' motion is a procedure by which the Senate can vote to place a time limit on the consideration of a bill and thereby overcome a filibuster.

Features:

The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has recently ruled that Amerifirst Bank and Selco Community Credit Union can pursue claims against TJX and Fifth Third Bank relating to a data breach affecting 45 million card accounts in Federal court, finding that the District Court had abused its authority by agreeing to transfer the case to a State court. Angela Angelovska-Wilson, an Associate at Latham & Watkins LLP, examines the history of the TJX case, the First Circuit's decision and its significance relating to use of FTC complaints and precedent in establishing a breach of State consumer protection laws, as well as liability risk in payment card data breach cases.

Multilateral interchange fees (MIF) are aimed at recovering transaction costs in the card payment network and are multilaterally agreed by card issuers and banks via a collective agreement, which has prompted European Commission investigations based on competition concerns. Phillip Rees and Joanna Lynch-Gardner, of Hugh James, examine why Visa's MIF qualified for an exemption to Article 81 EC, while MasterCard's MIF did not, the arguments against the Commission's reasoning and its potential approach to MIFs on direct debits.

The Financial Services Authority is to implement a new framework to regulate retail banking conduct of business, following a consultation. Robert Robinson, a Manager at Deloitte, examines the changes, how they apply to e-money and how they gel with European payments regulations.

The US Federal Trade Commission has recently put back a deadline under its Red Flags Rule for implementing an ID theft prevention programme to 1 August. Elizabeth H. Johnson, an Attorney with Hunton & Williams LLP, examines the requirements on creditors and financial institutions to implement measures to combat fraud via ID theft, which organisations and accounts fall under which aspects of the rules and procedures that must be implemented to combat ID theft fraud.

The Belgian Privacy Commission recently completed an investigation into the Society for Worldwide International Financial Telecommunication's (SWIFT) disclosure of personal data within financial messaging information to the US Treasury following a subpoena. Tanguy Van Overstraeten, a Partner at Linklaters, discusses the case and examines the problems organisations such as SWIFT face when dealing with conflicting legal obligations in different jurisdictions.

Open source describes software developed by a community of people, who give it away for free under terms providing that should they develop the software further, they are willing to share the results. Dave Birch, a Director at Consult Hyperion, examines business models for the use of open source, the role that it can play in the e-payments industry and potential methods of policing against its use by criminals.