Volume: 1 Issue: 15
(December 2007)

News

The European Commission has announced initiatives to help Member States achieve swift and consistent implementation of the Payment Services Directive (PSD). / read more

Keith Davis, of HM Treasury's Financial Crime Team and Jody Ketteringham, of the Financial Services Authority's Crime Policy Unit, will examine the UK's implementation of the Third Money Laundering Directive at a Special Briefing, to be hosted at the London offices of Sidley Austin (UK) LLP on 31 January. / read more

The House of Commons Justice Committee has recommended that the Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas, should be given 'adequate support' through any new legislation expanding his role as data protection guardian. / read more

Features

On 15 December 2007, the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 (the 'Regulations') came into force in the United Kingdom. The Regulations implement the EU's Third Money Laundering Directive in the UK. The Directive and the Regulations will have important consequences for those in the financial services sector, including those involved with prepaid products. / read more

The Payments Council, which oversees the payment system and services in the UK, is holding a consultation on a National Payments Plan. Nigel White, a chief consultant with the Payments Council, explains how the National Payments Plan will streamline the payments industry, and how the consultation process will add to this plan. / read more

The Cheque and Credit Clearing Company has recently announced changes to the way that cheques are processed and cleared, which include payment guarantees that could encourage e-commerce companies into accepting cheques as a form of payment. Sandra Quinn, director of communications at APACS, the UK payments association, highlights the changes and the impact that they are likely to have. / read more

Mobile remittance services, which allow workers based overseas to send money back to their families, are now a reality. Ben Soppitt, director of strategic initiatives at the GSM Association, explains how its Mobile Money Transfer System, set up in partnership with payments companies, has enabled overseas workers to send money back to their families without needing to upgrade their mobile handset. / read more

A paper from the JWG-IT Group has suggested that UK firms regulated under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) may not be complying with its minimum record keeping requirements. Tania Williams, an associate with Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, explains that although the FSA is still waiting for minimum records requirements to be published by the Committee of European Securities Regulators, the deadline for MiFID compliance was 1 November and companies that are not compliant risk FSA fines. / read more

The European Commission has recently proposed a new Council Directive to modernise the VAT rules for insurance and financial services, which have not changed since 1977. Greg Sinfield, a partner with Lovells LLP, examines whether Member States will support the proposals, which include a clarification of VAT exemption for insurance and financial services, a requirement to permit suppliers to opt to tax exempt supplies of insurance and financial services, and a new exemption for services supplied under cost sharing arrangements between suppliers of exempt financial insurance services. / read more

A recent Financial Services Authority paper has outlined that following legislative reforms in 2003 and 2007, the UK could be in a strong position for offering Islamic mortgage products. Akbar Merchant and James Shaw, of Kennedys, explain why this is the case and examine legislative and regulatory challenges to the expansion of the Islamic mortgage market. / read more

About Payments & FinTech Lawyer

The monthly publication covering legal, regulatory and policy developments relating to the fast-moving payments and FinTech sectors. Key topics include mobile payments, e-money, prepaid and other payment cards, online banking, digital currencies such as Bitcoin, card fraud and other cyber crime, RegTech, robo-advice, P2P lending, and crowdfunding, as well as regulatory regimes such as the Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2), the Payment Accounts Directive, and the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive / read more