Sue Britton, Advisor, Corporate Innovation & Partnerships
September 26th, 2018
Sue Britton is CEO & Founder of FGS (FinTech Growth Syndicate) – Canada’s leading FinTech innova[...]
Category Archives: Fintech International
Banks’ Revenue Growth at Risk Due to Unprecedented Competitive Pressure Resulting from Digital Disruption, Accenture Study Finds
BusinessWire release | Accenture | Oct 17, 2018
Digital-only banks, fintechs and big tech companies are quietly gaining customers, while incumbents struggle to make strategic investments in their digital future
NEW YORK & LONDON & HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--New entrants to the banking market — including challenger banks, non-bank payments institutions and big tech companies — are amassing up to one-third of new revenue, which is challenging the competitiveness of traditional banks, according to new research from Accenture (NYSE:ACN).
“As the banking industry experiences radical change, driven by regulation, new entrants and demanding consumers, banks will need to reassess their assets, strengths and capabilities to determine if they are taking their business in the right direction”
Accenture analyzed more than 20,000 banking and payments institutions across seven markets to quantify the level of change and disruption in the global banking industry. The study found that the number of banking and payments institutions decreased by nearly 20 percent over a 12-year period — from 24,000 in 2005 to less than 19,300 in 2017. However, nearly one in six (17 percent) current institutions are what Accenture considers new entrants — i.e., companies entering the market after 2005. While few of these new players have raised alarm bells among traditional banks, the threat of reduced future revenue growth opportunities is real and growing.
Two new reports from Accenture quantify the level of disruption in the banking industry: “Beyond North Star Gazing” discusses how industry change is shaping the strategic priorities for banks, and “Star Shifting: Rapid Evolution Required” outlines what banks can do to take advantage of these changes to maintain customer relevance and ensure future revenue growth.
See: The lending revolution: How digital credit is changing banks from the inside
“Most banks are struggling to find the right mix of investments in traditional and digital capabilities as they balance meeting the needs of digital customers with maintaining legacy systems that protect customer data,” said Alan McIntyre, a senior managing director at Accenture and head of its global Banking practice.
“Banks can’t simply digitally enable their business as usual and expect to be successful. So far, the conservative approach to digital investment has hindered banks’ ability to build new sources of growth, which is crucial to escaping the tightening squeeze of competition from digital attackers and deteriorating returns.”
Industry disruption
Many incumbent banks continue to dismiss the threat of new entrants, claiming that (1) new entrants are not creating new innovations, but rather dressing up traditional banking products; (2) significant revenue is not moving to new entrants; and (3) new entrants are not generating profits. However, the reports analyzed where revenue is shifting to new entrants and identifies examples of true innovation happening around the world that can no longer be dismissed. Accenture predicts that the shift in revenue to new entrants will continue and will start to have a material impact on incumbent banks’ profits.
See: The Bali Fintech Agenda: A Blueprint for Successfully Harnessing Fintech’s Opportunities
U.S.: Nineteen percent of financial institutions in the U.S. are new entrants and have captured 3.5 percent of total banking and payments revenues. Over the past dozen years, the number of financial institutions in the U.S. has decreased by nearly one-quarter, largely due to the financial crisis and subsequent regulatory hurdles imposed to obtain a banking license. These factors have made the U.S. a difficult market for new entrants and a stable environment for incumbents. More than half of new current accounts opened in the U.S. have been captured by three large banks that are making material investments in digital, while regional banks focus on cost reduction and struggle to grow their balance sheets.
“Ten years after the financial crisis, the banking industry is experiencing a level of competitive intensity and disruption that’s much greater than what’s been seen before,” said Julian Skan, a senior managing director at Accenture and global Banking lead, Accenture Strategy.
“With challenger banks and platform players reducing traditional banks’ competitiveness and the threat of a power shift looming, incumbent players can no longer rest on their laurels. Banks are mobilizing to take advantage of industry changes, leveraging digital technologies and ecosystem business models to cement their relevance with customers and regain revenue growth.”
UK: With regulation increasing competition in the financial services industry and reducing the dominance of established banks, 63 percent of players in the UK are new entrants. This is eye-popping compared with other markets and the 17 percent global average. New entrants have captured 14 percent of total banking revenues, with the clear majority (12 percent) going to non-bank payments institutions. While they have only taken around 14 percent of revenues, the reports suggest that they are taking over one third of new revenue indicating a higher level of disruption in the future. The reports also suggest that incumbent banks will therefore likely start to see a significant impact on revenues as leading challenger banks are surpassing the 1 million customer threshold and 15 fintechs have been granted full banking licenses.
Canada: Investors have backed new entrants in Canada with the intention of disrupting the banking industry. While nearly half (47 percent) of banking and payments institutions are new entrants, they have captured less than 2 percent of total banking and payments revenue, making Canada one of the least disrupted major banking markets.
See: The state of Canadian FinTech in four charts
Europe: In Europe (including the UK), 20 percent of the banking and payments institutions are new entrants and have captured nearly 7 percent of total banking revenue — and one-third (33 percent) of all new revenue since 2005.
“As the banking industry experiences radical change, driven by regulation, new entrants and demanding consumers, banks will need to reassess their assets, strengths and capabilities to determine if they are taking their business in the right direction,” McIntyre said. “The future belongs to banks that can build new sources of growth, including finding opportunities beyond traditional financial services. They can’t afford to blindly follow the path they originally set out at the beginning of their digital journey. However, as the report clearly shows, there is no single answer and each bank needs to truly understand the market it is operating in before charting a path forward.”
Source: view release
Continue to the full article --> here
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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BusinessWire release | Accenture | Oct 17, 2018 Digital-only banks, fintechs and big tech companies are quietly gaining customers, while incumbents struggle to make strategic investments in their digital future NEW YORK & LONDON & HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--New entrants to the banking market — including challenger banks, non-bank payments institutions and big tech companies — are amassing up to one-third of new revenue, which is challenging the competitiveness of traditional banks, according to new research from Accenture (NYSE:ACN). “As the banking industry experiences radical change, driven by regulation, new entrants and demanding consumers, banks will need to reassess their assets, strengths and capabilities to determine if they are taking their business in the right direction” Accenture analyzed more than 20,000 banking and payments institutions across seven markets to quantify the level of change and disruption in the global banking industry. The study found that the number of banking and payments institutions decreased by nearly 20 percent over a 12-year period — from 24,000 in 2005 to less than 19,300 in 2017. However, nearly one in six (17 percent) current institutions are what Accenture considers new entrants — i.e., companies entering the market after 2005. While few of these new players ...
Read More
Forbes | Michael del Castillo | Oct 18, 2018 The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is launching a portal for engaging with companies using blockchain, artificial intelligence and more. Available today, the new fintech hub, or FinHub for short, is designed to bring the SEC’s existing services to a single access point and provide an easier way for companies to communicate with the public. As startups building with blockchain increasingly come under the SEC’s attention, the new portal has the potential to streamline the process of building compliant platforms prior to launch. The SEC’s FinHub will be led by Valerie A. Szczepanik, senior advisor for digital assets and innovation and associate director in the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance. “We’ve been doing these things for years,” Szczepanik told Forbes. “This is going to bring it all together.” The FinHub will be staffed by representatives from the SEC’s divisions and offices who have expertise and involvement in fintech-related issues. See: Canadian securities regulators provide additional guidance on securities law implications for offerings of tokens In addition to asking questions of the SEC, those who use the site will be able to request meetings. To increase engagement, a binary code “Easter egg” ...
Read More
Gowling WLG | Shaela W. Rae | October 17 2018 Black market. Dark web. Illicit. Underground market. Illegitimate. Illegal. Organized crime. All words used to describe the illegal cannabis industry, until October 17, 2018 that is. Once it is legal to buy, possess or use cannabis for recreational purposes the discussion around the use of cannabis and how to procure it changes from hushed words in a corner to an open conversation in public. But is the public ready to embrace a substance that has been seen as illegitimate and "bad" for so long? If the experience in the US can be relied upon, the answer is "yes". According to investment bank Cowen & Co., the cannabis industry is expected to reach sales of approximately US$75-billion by 2030, up from US$6-billion in 2016, as the drug is more socially accepted. In the US today cannabis is illegal on a federal level as it is classified as a Schedule 1 narcotic, but cannabis is legal in 30 states for medicinal purposes, and in 9 states and Washington, DC, for recreational use for adults over the age of 21. See: Canabis Company True Leaf Raises $14 Million in Cross Border US – ...
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International Monetary Fund | Release | Oct 11, 2018 The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group today launched the Bali Fintech Agenda, a set of 12 policy elements aimed at helping member countries to harness the benefits and opportunities of rapid advances in financial technology that are transforming the provision of banking services, while at the same time managing the inherent risks. The Agenda proposes a framework of high-level issues that countries should consider in their own domestic policy discussions and aims to guide staff from the two institutions in their own work and dialogue with national authorities. The 12 elements (see table) were distilled from members’ own experiences and cover topics relating broadly to enabling fintech; ensuring financial sector resilience; addressing risks; and promoting international cooperation. “There are an estimated 1.7 billion adults in the world without access to financial services,” said IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde. “Fintech can have a major social and economic impact for them and across the membership in general. All countries are trying to reap these benefits, while also mitigating the risks. We need greater international cooperation to achieve that, and to make sure the fintech revolution benefits the many and not ...
Read More
Investment Executive | James Langton | Oct 12, 2018 Money laundering and tax evasion are key concerns Canadian policy-makers initially took a hands-off approach to cryptoassets. Now, in the wake of a bitcoin boom-and-bust and continuing growth in the cryptoassets market, policy-makers are taking a second look at the emerging phenomenon. In 2015, the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce issued one of Canada’s first reports examining the emerging cryptocurrency industry; that report recommends that policy-makers keep an eye on the space. Since then, the cryptoassets market has continued to grow. According to a report from the Bank of Canada (BoC), the global market capitalization for cryptoassets “grew rapidly” in 2017 and the daily transaction volume now is more than 75 times higher than it was in early 2017 – i.e., more than $25 billion a day. At this point, the BoC report states, traditional financial services institutions don’t have much, if any, direct exposure to cryptoassets, but the report cautions that these institutions could become exposed due to their clients’ trading in cryptoassets or through exchange trading in crypto-based derivatives. “Cryptoasset markets are evolving quickly and could have financial stability implications in the future if their size ...
Read More
NCFA Canada | Oct 13, 2018 Ep13-Oct 13: Road to Fintech IPO: Capital Networks, Scalable Solutions, Putting People First About this episode: On this episode, NCFA show host Manseeb Khan sits down with Ali Pourdad the CEO of Progressa who recently closed out an $84 million dollar round. They talk about P2P loans, loan services operating within the blockchain and why being people first business matters. Enjoy! (see Transcript) Host: Manseeb Khan, NCFA, Fintech Fridays show host Guest: ALI POURDAD, Co-founder and CEO, Progressa (LinkedIn) Bio: Ali Pourdad has been CEO of Progressa since its inception in 2013. Under his leadership the Company has raised over $40 million of investor capital and invested over $2.0 million dollars in its proprietary "Powered by Progressa" decision engine for Canadian Enterprise partners looking to enhance collections strategy in a positive way. The company has grown to over 110 employees in Vancouver and Toronto. Ali has decisively positioned Progressa for its next generation of growth by recently executing on several initiatives, including creating one of Canada's most popular Exempt Market Bond Offerings and securing an $11.4 million Series A financing . Prior to co-founding Progressa, Ali worked in both corporate restructuring and audit & assurance, ...
Read More
Beam Platform | Alec Gordon | Aug 24, 2018 THE PROBLEM The tech industry has gotten a rude awakening this year. Following a few high profile instances of data misuse, European Union has struck down the law and put everyone who sells into Europe (or deals with anyone who does) on notice. Since introduction, GDPR was meant to show both corporations and their users that better clarity around data collection/preservation is the necessary step forward, one that will lead to a fairer digital society, and ultimately benefit all those involved. And in order to do that, the companies themselves must take matters into their own hands by building new tools to let data flow back to the user. The customers demand it, and equally deserve to have control over their digital footprint. In the end this is an EU bill with global ramifications, and we should all be paying attention. By now you most of you have gotten dozens of emails on “updates to privacy policy” and other notices of forthcoming compliance. This is a welcome reminder that it is you, the user, who’s the focal point GDPR. After decades of computer and telephone use, the companies with whom we ...
Read More
Competition Bureau | Oct 10, 2018 Speech Remarks by Interim Commissioner of Competition Matthew Boswell Global Series 2018 October 10, 2018 Ottawa, Ontario Thank you. I’m pleased to be here to speak with you today. Thank you Makan, for your thoughts on these important issues. They are particularly relevant to businesses, the legal community, academia and governments around the world and to all of you who are gathered here today. Every day we see the world evolving at a rapid pace, thanks to innovation. Development of new technologies, ways of doing business and the creation of new products have the potential to open up new areas of science, medicine and technology. Small steps lead to bigger steps. And here in Canada, we have to be ready for both the challenges and opportunities that this is bringing to all of us. Let’s understand what we are up against. Every year, innovation in the top industrialized countries is tracked by leading authorities on the subject. And here’s what they report about Canada in 2018. On the plus side, Canada performs better than some others in four big areas: Human Capital and Research, Institutions, Infrastructure, and Market Sophistication. See: Canada’s ‘innovation economy’ has ...
Read More
Crowdfund Insider | Cali Haan | Oct 9, 2018 Vancouver-based cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX has been defending itself in court for the release of $28 million dollars in customer funds frozen by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) since January, the Globe and Mail reports. According to court documents filed by CIBC in the Canadian province of Ontario, the action to freeze the accounts was taken because the bank says, “it was unable to determine who owns the funds,” and would like the court to take possession of the money and distribute it to either QuadrigaCX, their payments processor Custodian Inc, or to the 388 affected Quadriga customers, the Globe and Mail writes. Entrepreneurs in the relatively new crypto sector industries complained for some time about bank non-cooperation. See: International Anti-Money Laundering Standards for Crypto Expected in October The cryptocurrency press in South America has reported on numerous account closures by banks against crypto exchanges on the continent, some of which are now being contested in courts by, among others, exchanges like Walltime in Brazil. Sources within the Toronto crypto entrepreneur scene say they have suffered persistent problems with getting their businesses banked in the city- even at credit unions- and have ...
Read More
Crunchbase News | Alex Wilhelm | October 8, 2018 Meet Nubank, a fintech shop out of Brazil that just raised $180 million from Tencent at a valuation of $4 billion. Forget the fact that the round is half secondary. It’s an enormous transaction, and in more normal times, it would cause a big stir. However, the capital event highlights something notable about Tencent: the China-based company’s investment cadence is staggering. Tencent is disbursing cash at a far faster rate than Alibaba, another Chinese tech shop that isn’t famous for parsimony. Tencent’s Early Christmas Tencent has been on a check-cutting bing recently, getting through eight investing rounds in September. Those ranged from a $1.5 billion deal with Lianjia (real estate services), a $450 million round for MissFresh E-Commerce (mobile grocery sales), to the comparatively staid $90 million Series B for WeShare (fintech something or other). October is looking similarly hot. Tencent is at four deals so far, and the month isn’t even half done. Here’s the list: October 1. Miniso’s 1 billion rmb Series A. October 4. Voyager Innovation’s $175 million private equity round. October 5. Bilibili’s $317.6 million post-IPO equity event. October 8. Nubank’s $180 million Series F (half secondary). Regarding Nubank, TechCrunch’s Jon Shieber has the ...
Read More
BusinessWire release | Accenture | Oct 17, 2018 Digital-only banks, fintechs and big tech companies are quietly gaining customers, while incumbents struggle to make strategic investments in their digital future NEW YORK & LONDON & HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--New entrants to the banking market — including challenger banks, non-bank payments institutions and big tech companies — are amassing up to one-third of new revenue, which is challenging the competitiveness of traditional banks, according to new research from Accenture (NYSE:ACN). “As the banking industry experiences radical change, driven by regulation, new entrants and demanding consumers, banks will need to reassess their assets, strengths and capabilities to determine if they are taking their business in the right direction” Accenture analyzed more than 20,000 banking and payments institutions across seven markets to quantify the level of change and disruption in the global banking industry. The study found that the number of banking and payments institutions decreased by nearly 20 percent over a 12-year period — from 24,000 in 2005 to less than 19,300 in 2017. However, nearly one in six (17 percent) current institutions are what Accenture considers new entrants — i.e., companies entering the market after 2005. While few of these new players ...
Read More
Read More
Forbes | Michael del Castillo | Oct 18, 2018 The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is launching a portal for engaging with companies using blockchain, artificial intelligence and more. Available today, the new fintech hub, or FinHub for short, is designed to bring the SEC’s existing services to a single access point and provide an easier way for companies to communicate with the public. As startups building with blockchain increasingly come under the SEC’s attention, the new portal has the potential to streamline the process of building compliant platforms prior to launch. The SEC’s FinHub will be led by Valerie A. Szczepanik, senior advisor for digital assets and innovation and associate director in the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance. “We’ve been doing these things for years,” Szczepanik told Forbes. “This is going to bring it all together.” The FinHub will be staffed by representatives from the SEC’s divisions and offices who have expertise and involvement in fintech-related issues. See: Canadian securities regulators provide additional guidance on securities law implications for offerings of tokens In addition to asking questions of the SEC, those who use the site will be able to request meetings. To increase engagement, a binary code “Easter egg” ...
Read More
Read More
Gowling WLG | Shaela W. Rae | October 17 2018 Black market. Dark web. Illicit. Underground market. Illegitimate. Illegal. Organized crime. All words used to describe the illegal cannabis industry, until October 17, 2018 that is. Once it is legal to buy, possess or use cannabis for recreational purposes the discussion around the use of cannabis and how to procure it changes from hushed words in a corner to an open conversation in public. But is the public ready to embrace a substance that has been seen as illegitimate and "bad" for so long? If the experience in the US can be relied upon, the answer is "yes". According to investment bank Cowen & Co., the cannabis industry is expected to reach sales of approximately US$75-billion by 2030, up from US$6-billion in 2016, as the drug is more socially accepted. In the US today cannabis is illegal on a federal level as it is classified as a Schedule 1 narcotic, but cannabis is legal in 30 states for medicinal purposes, and in 9 states and Washington, DC, for recreational use for adults over the age of 21. See: Canabis Company True Leaf Raises $14 Million in Cross Border US – ...
Read More
Read More
International Monetary Fund | Release | Oct 11, 2018 The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group today launched the Bali Fintech Agenda, a set of 12 policy elements aimed at helping member countries to harness the benefits and opportunities of rapid advances in financial technology that are transforming the provision of banking services, while at the same time managing the inherent risks. The Agenda proposes a framework of high-level issues that countries should consider in their own domestic policy discussions and aims to guide staff from the two institutions in their own work and dialogue with national authorities. The 12 elements (see table) were distilled from members’ own experiences and cover topics relating broadly to enabling fintech; ensuring financial sector resilience; addressing risks; and promoting international cooperation. “There are an estimated 1.7 billion adults in the world without access to financial services,” said IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde. “Fintech can have a major social and economic impact for them and across the membership in general. All countries are trying to reap these benefits, while also mitigating the risks. We need greater international cooperation to achieve that, and to make sure the fintech revolution benefits the many and not ...
Read More
Read More
Investment Executive | James Langton | Oct 12, 2018 Money laundering and tax evasion are key concerns Canadian policy-makers initially took a hands-off approach to cryptoassets. Now, in the wake of a bitcoin boom-and-bust and continuing growth in the cryptoassets market, policy-makers are taking a second look at the emerging phenomenon. In 2015, the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce issued one of Canada’s first reports examining the emerging cryptocurrency industry; that report recommends that policy-makers keep an eye on the space. Since then, the cryptoassets market has continued to grow. According to a report from the Bank of Canada (BoC), the global market capitalization for cryptoassets “grew rapidly” in 2017 and the daily transaction volume now is more than 75 times higher than it was in early 2017 – i.e., more than $25 billion a day. At this point, the BoC report states, traditional financial services institutions don’t have much, if any, direct exposure to cryptoassets, but the report cautions that these institutions could become exposed due to their clients’ trading in cryptoassets or through exchange trading in crypto-based derivatives. “Cryptoasset markets are evolving quickly and could have financial stability implications in the future if their size ...
Read More
Read More
NCFA Canada | Oct 13, 2018 Ep13-Oct 13: Road to Fintech IPO: Capital Networks, Scalable Solutions, Putting People First About this episode: On this episode, NCFA show host Manseeb Khan sits down with Ali Pourdad the CEO of Progressa who recently closed out an $84 million dollar round. They talk about P2P loans, loan services operating within the blockchain and why being people first business matters. Enjoy! (see Transcript) Host: Manseeb Khan, NCFA, Fintech Fridays show host Guest: ALI POURDAD, Co-founder and CEO, Progressa (LinkedIn) Bio: Ali Pourdad has been CEO of Progressa since its inception in 2013. Under his leadership the Company has raised over $40 million of investor capital and invested over $2.0 million dollars in its proprietary "Powered by Progressa" decision engine for Canadian Enterprise partners looking to enhance collections strategy in a positive way. The company has grown to over 110 employees in Vancouver and Toronto. Ali has decisively positioned Progressa for its next generation of growth by recently executing on several initiatives, including creating one of Canada's most popular Exempt Market Bond Offerings and securing an $11.4 million Series A financing . Prior to co-founding Progressa, Ali worked in both corporate restructuring and audit & assurance, ...
Read More
Read More
Beam Platform | Alec Gordon | Aug 24, 2018 THE PROBLEM The tech industry has gotten a rude awakening this year. Following a few high profile instances of data misuse, European Union has struck down the law and put everyone who sells into Europe (or deals with anyone who does) on notice. Since introduction, GDPR was meant to show both corporations and their users that better clarity around data collection/preservation is the necessary step forward, one that will lead to a fairer digital society, and ultimately benefit all those involved. And in order to do that, the companies themselves must take matters into their own hands by building new tools to let data flow back to the user. The customers demand it, and equally deserve to have control over their digital footprint. In the end this is an EU bill with global ramifications, and we should all be paying attention. By now you most of you have gotten dozens of emails on “updates to privacy policy” and other notices of forthcoming compliance. This is a welcome reminder that it is you, the user, who’s the focal point GDPR. After decades of computer and telephone use, the companies with whom we ...
Read More
Read More
Competition Bureau | Oct 10, 2018 Speech Remarks by Interim Commissioner of Competition Matthew Boswell Global Series 2018 October 10, 2018 Ottawa, Ontario Thank you. I’m pleased to be here to speak with you today. Thank you Makan, for your thoughts on these important issues. They are particularly relevant to businesses, the legal community, academia and governments around the world and to all of you who are gathered here today. Every day we see the world evolving at a rapid pace, thanks to innovation. Development of new technologies, ways of doing business and the creation of new products have the potential to open up new areas of science, medicine and technology. Small steps lead to bigger steps. And here in Canada, we have to be ready for both the challenges and opportunities that this is bringing to all of us. Let’s understand what we are up against. Every year, innovation in the top industrialized countries is tracked by leading authorities on the subject. And here’s what they report about Canada in 2018. On the plus side, Canada performs better than some others in four big areas: Human Capital and Research, Institutions, Infrastructure, and Market Sophistication. See: Canada’s ‘innovation economy’ has ...
Read More
Read More
Crowdfund Insider | Cali Haan | Oct 9, 2018 Vancouver-based cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX has been defending itself in court for the release of $28 million dollars in customer funds frozen by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) since January, the Globe and Mail reports. According to court documents filed by CIBC in the Canadian province of Ontario, the action to freeze the accounts was taken because the bank says, “it was unable to determine who owns the funds,” and would like the court to take possession of the money and distribute it to either QuadrigaCX, their payments processor Custodian Inc, or to the 388 affected Quadriga customers, the Globe and Mail writes. Entrepreneurs in the relatively new crypto sector industries complained for some time about bank non-cooperation. See: International Anti-Money Laundering Standards for Crypto Expected in October The cryptocurrency press in South America has reported on numerous account closures by banks against crypto exchanges on the continent, some of which are now being contested in courts by, among others, exchanges like Walltime in Brazil. Sources within the Toronto crypto entrepreneur scene say they have suffered persistent problems with getting their businesses banked in the city- even at credit unions- and have ...
Read More
Read More
Crunchbase News | Alex Wilhelm | October 8, 2018 Meet Nubank, a fintech shop out of Brazil that just raised $180 million from Tencent at a valuation of $4 billion. Forget the fact that the round is half secondary. It’s an enormous transaction, and in more normal times, it would cause a big stir. However, the capital event highlights something notable about Tencent: the China-based company’s investment cadence is staggering. Tencent is disbursing cash at a far faster rate than Alibaba, another Chinese tech shop that isn’t famous for parsimony. Tencent’s Early Christmas Tencent has been on a check-cutting bing recently, getting through eight investing rounds in September. Those ranged from a $1.5 billion deal with Lianjia (real estate services), a $450 million round for MissFresh E-Commerce (mobile grocery sales), to the comparatively staid $90 million Series B for WeShare (fintech something or other). October is looking similarly hot. Tencent is at four deals so far, and the month isn’t even half done. Here’s the list: October 1. Miniso’s 1 billion rmb Series A. October 4. Voyager Innovation’s $175 million private equity round. October 5. Bilibili’s $317.6 million post-IPO equity event. October 8. Nubank’s $180 million Series F (half secondary). Regarding Nubank, TechCrunch’s Jon Shieber has the ...
Read More
Read More
SEC Launches Fintech Hub To Engage With Cryptocurrency Startups And More
Forbes | | Oct 18, 2018
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is launching a portal for engaging with companies using blockchain, artificial intelligence and more.
Available today, the new fintech hub, or FinHub for short, is designed to bring the SEC’s existing services to a single access point and provide an easier way for companies to communicate with the public.
As startups building with blockchain increasingly come under the SEC’s attention, the new portal has the potential to streamline the process of building compliant platforms prior to launch.
The SEC’s FinHub will be led by Valerie A. Szczepanik, senior advisor for digital assets and innovation and associate director in the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance.
“We’ve been doing these things for years,” Szczepanik told Forbes. “This is going to bring it all together.”
The FinHub will be staffed by representatives from the SEC’s divisions and offices who have expertise and involvement in fintech-related issues.
See: Canadian securities regulators provide additional guidance on securities law implications for offerings of tokens
In addition to asking questions of the SEC, those who use the site will be able to request meetings. To increase engagement, a binary code “Easter egg” message has been hidden on the page.
Over the past year the number of cases being publicly pursued by the SEC has increased. As a result the U.S securities regulator earlier this year published a webpage that spoofed scam websites as a way to educate potential investors and blockchain builders. The new portal appears to be an extension of that strategy.
Continue to the full article --> here
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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BusinessWire release | Accenture | Oct 17, 2018 Digital-only banks, fintechs and big tech companies are quietly gaining customers, while incumbents struggle to make strategic investments in their digital future NEW YORK & LONDON & HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--New entrants to the banking market — including challenger banks, non-bank payments institutions and big tech companies — are amassing up to one-third of new revenue, which is challenging the competitiveness of traditional banks, according to new research from Accenture (NYSE:ACN). “As the banking industry experiences radical change, driven by regulation, new entrants and demanding consumers, banks will need to reassess their assets, strengths and capabilities to determine if they are taking their business in the right direction” Accenture analyzed more than 20,000 banking and payments institutions across seven markets to quantify the level of change and disruption in the global banking industry. The study found that the number of banking and payments institutions decreased by nearly 20 percent over a 12-year period — from 24,000 in 2005 to less than 19,300 in 2017. However, nearly one in six (17 percent) current institutions are what Accenture considers new entrants — i.e., companies entering the market after 2005. While few of these new players ...
Read More
Forbes | Michael del Castillo | Oct 18, 2018 The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is launching a portal for engaging with companies using blockchain, artificial intelligence and more. Available today, the new fintech hub, or FinHub for short, is designed to bring the SEC’s existing services to a single access point and provide an easier way for companies to communicate with the public. As startups building with blockchain increasingly come under the SEC’s attention, the new portal has the potential to streamline the process of building compliant platforms prior to launch. The SEC’s FinHub will be led by Valerie A. Szczepanik, senior advisor for digital assets and innovation and associate director in the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance. “We’ve been doing these things for years,” Szczepanik told Forbes. “This is going to bring it all together.” The FinHub will be staffed by representatives from the SEC’s divisions and offices who have expertise and involvement in fintech-related issues. See: Canadian securities regulators provide additional guidance on securities law implications for offerings of tokens In addition to asking questions of the SEC, those who use the site will be able to request meetings. To increase engagement, a binary code “Easter egg” ...
Read More
Gowling WLG | Shaela W. Rae | October 17 2018 Black market. Dark web. Illicit. Underground market. Illegitimate. Illegal. Organized crime. All words used to describe the illegal cannabis industry, until October 17, 2018 that is. Once it is legal to buy, possess or use cannabis for recreational purposes the discussion around the use of cannabis and how to procure it changes from hushed words in a corner to an open conversation in public. But is the public ready to embrace a substance that has been seen as illegitimate and "bad" for so long? If the experience in the US can be relied upon, the answer is "yes". According to investment bank Cowen & Co., the cannabis industry is expected to reach sales of approximately US$75-billion by 2030, up from US$6-billion in 2016, as the drug is more socially accepted. In the US today cannabis is illegal on a federal level as it is classified as a Schedule 1 narcotic, but cannabis is legal in 30 states for medicinal purposes, and in 9 states and Washington, DC, for recreational use for adults over the age of 21. See: Canabis Company True Leaf Raises $14 Million in Cross Border US – ...
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International Monetary Fund | Release | Oct 11, 2018 The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group today launched the Bali Fintech Agenda, a set of 12 policy elements aimed at helping member countries to harness the benefits and opportunities of rapid advances in financial technology that are transforming the provision of banking services, while at the same time managing the inherent risks. The Agenda proposes a framework of high-level issues that countries should consider in their own domestic policy discussions and aims to guide staff from the two institutions in their own work and dialogue with national authorities. The 12 elements (see table) were distilled from members’ own experiences and cover topics relating broadly to enabling fintech; ensuring financial sector resilience; addressing risks; and promoting international cooperation. “There are an estimated 1.7 billion adults in the world without access to financial services,” said IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde. “Fintech can have a major social and economic impact for them and across the membership in general. All countries are trying to reap these benefits, while also mitigating the risks. We need greater international cooperation to achieve that, and to make sure the fintech revolution benefits the many and not ...
Read More
Investment Executive | James Langton | Oct 12, 2018 Money laundering and tax evasion are key concerns Canadian policy-makers initially took a hands-off approach to cryptoassets. Now, in the wake of a bitcoin boom-and-bust and continuing growth in the cryptoassets market, policy-makers are taking a second look at the emerging phenomenon. In 2015, the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce issued one of Canada’s first reports examining the emerging cryptocurrency industry; that report recommends that policy-makers keep an eye on the space. Since then, the cryptoassets market has continued to grow. According to a report from the Bank of Canada (BoC), the global market capitalization for cryptoassets “grew rapidly” in 2017 and the daily transaction volume now is more than 75 times higher than it was in early 2017 – i.e., more than $25 billion a day. At this point, the BoC report states, traditional financial services institutions don’t have much, if any, direct exposure to cryptoassets, but the report cautions that these institutions could become exposed due to their clients’ trading in cryptoassets or through exchange trading in crypto-based derivatives. “Cryptoasset markets are evolving quickly and could have financial stability implications in the future if their size ...
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NCFA Canada | Oct 13, 2018 Ep13-Oct 13: Road to Fintech IPO: Capital Networks, Scalable Solutions, Putting People First About this episode: On this episode, NCFA show host Manseeb Khan sits down with Ali Pourdad the CEO of Progressa who recently closed out an $84 million dollar round. They talk about P2P loans, loan services operating within the blockchain and why being people first business matters. Enjoy! (see Transcript) Host: Manseeb Khan, NCFA, Fintech Fridays show host Guest: ALI POURDAD, Co-founder and CEO, Progressa (LinkedIn) Bio: Ali Pourdad has been CEO of Progressa since its inception in 2013. Under his leadership the Company has raised over $40 million of investor capital and invested over $2.0 million dollars in its proprietary "Powered by Progressa" decision engine for Canadian Enterprise partners looking to enhance collections strategy in a positive way. The company has grown to over 110 employees in Vancouver and Toronto. Ali has decisively positioned Progressa for its next generation of growth by recently executing on several initiatives, including creating one of Canada's most popular Exempt Market Bond Offerings and securing an $11.4 million Series A financing . Prior to co-founding Progressa, Ali worked in both corporate restructuring and audit & assurance, ...
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Beam Platform | Alec Gordon | Aug 24, 2018 THE PROBLEM The tech industry has gotten a rude awakening this year. Following a few high profile instances of data misuse, European Union has struck down the law and put everyone who sells into Europe (or deals with anyone who does) on notice. Since introduction, GDPR was meant to show both corporations and their users that better clarity around data collection/preservation is the necessary step forward, one that will lead to a fairer digital society, and ultimately benefit all those involved. And in order to do that, the companies themselves must take matters into their own hands by building new tools to let data flow back to the user. The customers demand it, and equally deserve to have control over their digital footprint. In the end this is an EU bill with global ramifications, and we should all be paying attention. By now you most of you have gotten dozens of emails on “updates to privacy policy” and other notices of forthcoming compliance. This is a welcome reminder that it is you, the user, who’s the focal point GDPR. After decades of computer and telephone use, the companies with whom we ...
Read More
Competition Bureau | Oct 10, 2018 Speech Remarks by Interim Commissioner of Competition Matthew Boswell Global Series 2018 October 10, 2018 Ottawa, Ontario Thank you. I’m pleased to be here to speak with you today. Thank you Makan, for your thoughts on these important issues. They are particularly relevant to businesses, the legal community, academia and governments around the world and to all of you who are gathered here today. Every day we see the world evolving at a rapid pace, thanks to innovation. Development of new technologies, ways of doing business and the creation of new products have the potential to open up new areas of science, medicine and technology. Small steps lead to bigger steps. And here in Canada, we have to be ready for both the challenges and opportunities that this is bringing to all of us. Let’s understand what we are up against. Every year, innovation in the top industrialized countries is tracked by leading authorities on the subject. And here’s what they report about Canada in 2018. On the plus side, Canada performs better than some others in four big areas: Human Capital and Research, Institutions, Infrastructure, and Market Sophistication. See: Canada’s ‘innovation economy’ has ...
Read More
Crowdfund Insider | Cali Haan | Oct 9, 2018 Vancouver-based cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX has been defending itself in court for the release of $28 million dollars in customer funds frozen by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) since January, the Globe and Mail reports. According to court documents filed by CIBC in the Canadian province of Ontario, the action to freeze the accounts was taken because the bank says, “it was unable to determine who owns the funds,” and would like the court to take possession of the money and distribute it to either QuadrigaCX, their payments processor Custodian Inc, or to the 388 affected Quadriga customers, the Globe and Mail writes. Entrepreneurs in the relatively new crypto sector industries complained for some time about bank non-cooperation. See: International Anti-Money Laundering Standards for Crypto Expected in October The cryptocurrency press in South America has reported on numerous account closures by banks against crypto exchanges on the continent, some of which are now being contested in courts by, among others, exchanges like Walltime in Brazil. Sources within the Toronto crypto entrepreneur scene say they have suffered persistent problems with getting their businesses banked in the city- even at credit unions- and have ...
Read More
Crunchbase News | Alex Wilhelm | October 8, 2018 Meet Nubank, a fintech shop out of Brazil that just raised $180 million from Tencent at a valuation of $4 billion. Forget the fact that the round is half secondary. It’s an enormous transaction, and in more normal times, it would cause a big stir. However, the capital event highlights something notable about Tencent: the China-based company’s investment cadence is staggering. Tencent is disbursing cash at a far faster rate than Alibaba, another Chinese tech shop that isn’t famous for parsimony. Tencent’s Early Christmas Tencent has been on a check-cutting bing recently, getting through eight investing rounds in September. Those ranged from a $1.5 billion deal with Lianjia (real estate services), a $450 million round for MissFresh E-Commerce (mobile grocery sales), to the comparatively staid $90 million Series B for WeShare (fintech something or other). October is looking similarly hot. Tencent is at four deals so far, and the month isn’t even half done. Here’s the list: October 1. Miniso’s 1 billion rmb Series A. October 4. Voyager Innovation’s $175 million private equity round. October 5. Bilibili’s $317.6 million post-IPO equity event. October 8. Nubank’s $180 million Series F (half secondary). Regarding Nubank, TechCrunch’s Jon Shieber has the ...
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BusinessWire release | Accenture | Oct 17, 2018 Digital-only banks, fintechs and big tech companies are quietly gaining customers, while incumbents struggle to make strategic investments in their digital future NEW YORK & LONDON & HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--New entrants to the banking market — including challenger banks, non-bank payments institutions and big tech companies — are amassing up to one-third of new revenue, which is challenging the competitiveness of traditional banks, according to new research from Accenture (NYSE:ACN). “As the banking industry experiences radical change, driven by regulation, new entrants and demanding consumers, banks will need to reassess their assets, strengths and capabilities to determine if they are taking their business in the right direction” Accenture analyzed more than 20,000 banking and payments institutions across seven markets to quantify the level of change and disruption in the global banking industry. The study found that the number of banking and payments institutions decreased by nearly 20 percent over a 12-year period — from 24,000 in 2005 to less than 19,300 in 2017. However, nearly one in six (17 percent) current institutions are what Accenture considers new entrants — i.e., companies entering the market after 2005. While few of these new players ...
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Forbes | Michael del Castillo | Oct 18, 2018 The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is launching a portal for engaging with companies using blockchain, artificial intelligence and more. Available today, the new fintech hub, or FinHub for short, is designed to bring the SEC’s existing services to a single access point and provide an easier way for companies to communicate with the public. As startups building with blockchain increasingly come under the SEC’s attention, the new portal has the potential to streamline the process of building compliant platforms prior to launch. The SEC’s FinHub will be led by Valerie A. Szczepanik, senior advisor for digital assets and innovation and associate director in the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance. “We’ve been doing these things for years,” Szczepanik told Forbes. “This is going to bring it all together.” The FinHub will be staffed by representatives from the SEC’s divisions and offices who have expertise and involvement in fintech-related issues. See: Canadian securities regulators provide additional guidance on securities law implications for offerings of tokens In addition to asking questions of the SEC, those who use the site will be able to request meetings. To increase engagement, a binary code “Easter egg” ...
Read More
Read More
Gowling WLG | Shaela W. Rae | October 17 2018 Black market. Dark web. Illicit. Underground market. Illegitimate. Illegal. Organized crime. All words used to describe the illegal cannabis industry, until October 17, 2018 that is. Once it is legal to buy, possess or use cannabis for recreational purposes the discussion around the use of cannabis and how to procure it changes from hushed words in a corner to an open conversation in public. But is the public ready to embrace a substance that has been seen as illegitimate and "bad" for so long? If the experience in the US can be relied upon, the answer is "yes". According to investment bank Cowen & Co., the cannabis industry is expected to reach sales of approximately US$75-billion by 2030, up from US$6-billion in 2016, as the drug is more socially accepted. In the US today cannabis is illegal on a federal level as it is classified as a Schedule 1 narcotic, but cannabis is legal in 30 states for medicinal purposes, and in 9 states and Washington, DC, for recreational use for adults over the age of 21. See: Canabis Company True Leaf Raises $14 Million in Cross Border US – ...
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International Monetary Fund | Release | Oct 11, 2018 The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group today launched the Bali Fintech Agenda, a set of 12 policy elements aimed at helping member countries to harness the benefits and opportunities of rapid advances in financial technology that are transforming the provision of banking services, while at the same time managing the inherent risks. The Agenda proposes a framework of high-level issues that countries should consider in their own domestic policy discussions and aims to guide staff from the two institutions in their own work and dialogue with national authorities. The 12 elements (see table) were distilled from members’ own experiences and cover topics relating broadly to enabling fintech; ensuring financial sector resilience; addressing risks; and promoting international cooperation. “There are an estimated 1.7 billion adults in the world without access to financial services,” said IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde. “Fintech can have a major social and economic impact for them and across the membership in general. All countries are trying to reap these benefits, while also mitigating the risks. We need greater international cooperation to achieve that, and to make sure the fintech revolution benefits the many and not ...
Read More
Read More
Investment Executive | James Langton | Oct 12, 2018 Money laundering and tax evasion are key concerns Canadian policy-makers initially took a hands-off approach to cryptoassets. Now, in the wake of a bitcoin boom-and-bust and continuing growth in the cryptoassets market, policy-makers are taking a second look at the emerging phenomenon. In 2015, the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce issued one of Canada’s first reports examining the emerging cryptocurrency industry; that report recommends that policy-makers keep an eye on the space. Since then, the cryptoassets market has continued to grow. According to a report from the Bank of Canada (BoC), the global market capitalization for cryptoassets “grew rapidly” in 2017 and the daily transaction volume now is more than 75 times higher than it was in early 2017 – i.e., more than $25 billion a day. At this point, the BoC report states, traditional financial services institutions don’t have much, if any, direct exposure to cryptoassets, but the report cautions that these institutions could become exposed due to their clients’ trading in cryptoassets or through exchange trading in crypto-based derivatives. “Cryptoasset markets are evolving quickly and could have financial stability implications in the future if their size ...
Read More
Read More
NCFA Canada | Oct 13, 2018 Ep13-Oct 13: Road to Fintech IPO: Capital Networks, Scalable Solutions, Putting People First About this episode: On this episode, NCFA show host Manseeb Khan sits down with Ali Pourdad the CEO of Progressa who recently closed out an $84 million dollar round. They talk about P2P loans, loan services operating within the blockchain and why being people first business matters. Enjoy! (see Transcript) Host: Manseeb Khan, NCFA, Fintech Fridays show host Guest: ALI POURDAD, Co-founder and CEO, Progressa (LinkedIn) Bio: Ali Pourdad has been CEO of Progressa since its inception in 2013. Under his leadership the Company has raised over $40 million of investor capital and invested over $2.0 million dollars in its proprietary "Powered by Progressa" decision engine for Canadian Enterprise partners looking to enhance collections strategy in a positive way. The company has grown to over 110 employees in Vancouver and Toronto. Ali has decisively positioned Progressa for its next generation of growth by recently executing on several initiatives, including creating one of Canada's most popular Exempt Market Bond Offerings and securing an $11.4 million Series A financing . Prior to co-founding Progressa, Ali worked in both corporate restructuring and audit & assurance, ...
Read More
Read More
Beam Platform | Alec Gordon | Aug 24, 2018 THE PROBLEM The tech industry has gotten a rude awakening this year. Following a few high profile instances of data misuse, European Union has struck down the law and put everyone who sells into Europe (or deals with anyone who does) on notice. Since introduction, GDPR was meant to show both corporations and their users that better clarity around data collection/preservation is the necessary step forward, one that will lead to a fairer digital society, and ultimately benefit all those involved. And in order to do that, the companies themselves must take matters into their own hands by building new tools to let data flow back to the user. The customers demand it, and equally deserve to have control over their digital footprint. In the end this is an EU bill with global ramifications, and we should all be paying attention. By now you most of you have gotten dozens of emails on “updates to privacy policy” and other notices of forthcoming compliance. This is a welcome reminder that it is you, the user, who’s the focal point GDPR. After decades of computer and telephone use, the companies with whom we ...
Read More
Read More
Competition Bureau | Oct 10, 2018 Speech Remarks by Interim Commissioner of Competition Matthew Boswell Global Series 2018 October 10, 2018 Ottawa, Ontario Thank you. I’m pleased to be here to speak with you today. Thank you Makan, for your thoughts on these important issues. They are particularly relevant to businesses, the legal community, academia and governments around the world and to all of you who are gathered here today. Every day we see the world evolving at a rapid pace, thanks to innovation. Development of new technologies, ways of doing business and the creation of new products have the potential to open up new areas of science, medicine and technology. Small steps lead to bigger steps. And here in Canada, we have to be ready for both the challenges and opportunities that this is bringing to all of us. Let’s understand what we are up against. Every year, innovation in the top industrialized countries is tracked by leading authorities on the subject. And here’s what they report about Canada in 2018. On the plus side, Canada performs better than some others in four big areas: Human Capital and Research, Institutions, Infrastructure, and Market Sophistication. See: Canada’s ‘innovation economy’ has ...
Read More
Read More
Crowdfund Insider | Cali Haan | Oct 9, 2018 Vancouver-based cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX has been defending itself in court for the release of $28 million dollars in customer funds frozen by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) since January, the Globe and Mail reports. According to court documents filed by CIBC in the Canadian province of Ontario, the action to freeze the accounts was taken because the bank says, “it was unable to determine who owns the funds,” and would like the court to take possession of the money and distribute it to either QuadrigaCX, their payments processor Custodian Inc, or to the 388 affected Quadriga customers, the Globe and Mail writes. Entrepreneurs in the relatively new crypto sector industries complained for some time about bank non-cooperation. See: International Anti-Money Laundering Standards for Crypto Expected in October The cryptocurrency press in South America has reported on numerous account closures by banks against crypto exchanges on the continent, some of which are now being contested in courts by, among others, exchanges like Walltime in Brazil. Sources within the Toronto crypto entrepreneur scene say they have suffered persistent problems with getting their businesses banked in the city- even at credit unions- and have ...
Read More
Read More
Crunchbase News | Alex Wilhelm | October 8, 2018 Meet Nubank, a fintech shop out of Brazil that just raised $180 million from Tencent at a valuation of $4 billion. Forget the fact that the round is half secondary. It’s an enormous transaction, and in more normal times, it would cause a big stir. However, the capital event highlights something notable about Tencent: the China-based company’s investment cadence is staggering. Tencent is disbursing cash at a far faster rate than Alibaba, another Chinese tech shop that isn’t famous for parsimony. Tencent’s Early Christmas Tencent has been on a check-cutting bing recently, getting through eight investing rounds in September. Those ranged from a $1.5 billion deal with Lianjia (real estate services), a $450 million round for MissFresh E-Commerce (mobile grocery sales), to the comparatively staid $90 million Series B for WeShare (fintech something or other). October is looking similarly hot. Tencent is at four deals so far, and the month isn’t even half done. Here’s the list: October 1. Miniso’s 1 billion rmb Series A. October 4. Voyager Innovation’s $175 million private equity round. October 5. Bilibili’s $317.6 million post-IPO equity event. October 8. Nubank’s $180 million Series F (half secondary). Regarding Nubank, TechCrunch’s Jon Shieber has the ...
Read More
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The Bali Fintech Agenda: A Blueprint for Successfully Harnessing Fintech’s Opportunities
International Monetary Fund | Release | Oct 11, 2018
The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group today launched the Bali Fintech Agenda, a set of 12 policy elements aimed at helping member countries to harness the benefits and opportunities of rapid advances in financial technology that are transforming the provision of banking services, while at the same time managing the inherent risks.
The Agenda proposes a framework of high-level issues that countries should consider in their own domestic policy discussions and aims to guide staff from the two institutions in their own work and dialogue with national authorities. The 12 elements (see table) were distilled from members’ own experiences and cover topics relating broadly to enabling fintech; ensuring financial sector resilience; addressing risks; and promoting international cooperation.
“There are an estimated 1.7 billion adults in the world without access to financial services,” said IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde. “Fintech can have a major social and economic impact for them and across the membership in general. All countries are trying to reap these benefits, while also mitigating the risks. We need greater international cooperation to achieve that, and to make sure the fintech revolution benefits the many and not just the few. This Agenda provides a useful framework for countries to assess their policy options and adapt them to their own circumstances and priorities.
“The Bali Fintech Agenda provides a framework to support the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly in low-income countries, where access to financial services is low,” World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said. “Countries are demanding deeper access to financial markets, and the World Bank Group will focus on delivering fintech solutions that enhance financial services, mitigate risks, and achieve stable, inclusive economic growth.”
Mrs. Lagarde and Dr. Kim presented the Agenda in a panel discussion today during the Annual Meetings in Bali. They were joined by Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Minister of Finance of Indonesia; Lesetja Kganyago, Governor of the South African Reserve Bank; and Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England and Chair of the Financial Stability Board.
With their near universal membership, the Fund and the Bank, are well positioned to gather information from all countries and to reflect on their respective needs and objectives at various levels of economic and technological development. They both also offer a forum for sharing the experience of countries that are not members of international standard-setting bodies on issues such as combating money laundering and terrorism financing, market integrity, and consumer protection. The Financial Stability Board and several other international standard-setters have been reviewing the implications of fintech developments and have indicated regulation and supervision priorities.
See: Your guide to cryptocurrency regulations around the world and where they are headed
The IMF and World Bank will start developing specific work programs on fintech, as the nature and scope of their members’ needs become clearer, in response to the Bali Fintech Agenda. The IMF’s initial focus will be on the implications for national and global monetary and financial stability; and the evolution of the International Monetary System and global financial safety net.
In response to the Bali Fintech Agenda, the World Bank will focus on using fintech to deepen financial markets, enhance responsible access to financial services, and improve cross-border payments and remittance transfer systems. The Bank will draw on the International Finance Corporation’s growing experience in this area. The Agenda contributes to building the foundations of the digital economy that is a key pillar in the World Bank Group’s larger disruptive technologies engagement.
Executive Board Statement
IMF Executive Directors welcomed the opportunity to consider the Bali Fintech Agenda, and praised the excellent ongoing cooperation between the Fund and World Bank staff in this area, along with other international bodies. Directors broadly endorsed the Agenda as a framework for the consideration of high level fintech issues by individual country members, including in their own domestic policy discussions. They recognized that the Agenda does not represent a work program for the Fund and World Bank Group. Directors concurred that the elements of the Agenda have broad relevance to all member countries and that national authorities should tailor the application of these elements in light of their specific circumstances. This would help reap the benefits of fintech while remaining vigilant about the potential risks and enhancing preparedness to address them. Directors also noted that the elements of the Agenda could apply to both conventional and Islamic financial instruments and products.
While recognizing the rapid pace of fintech development and its uncertain impact, Directors concurred that fintech offers wide ranging possibilities in deepening and enhancing the efficiencies of financial systems, broadening access to financial services—especially in low income countries and for underserved populations—and supporting broader economic development and inclusive growth. They acknowledged the potential risks posed by rapid technological changes to financial systems and individual users and stressed the need for adequate preparation and cross agency coordination by national authorities, including through strengthening of institutional capacity, building up knowledge, improving communication with stakeholders, and expanding consumer education. Directors called on the Fund to stand ready to provide technical assistance, particularly for countries with significant capacity gaps, while facilitating information sharing.
See: NCFA Canada’s submission to Finance Canada (March 2018): Urgent Need for Regulatory Change and Government Support
Directors generally considered the elements of the Agenda as broadly balanced in pointing out opportunities while acknowledging potential risks of fintech. They agreed on the need to strike the right balance between enabling financial innovation and reinforcing competition and the commitment to open, free and contestable markets on the one hand and addressing challenges to financial integrity, consumer protection, and financial stability on the other.
Directors broadly agreed on the need to augment regulatory and legal frameworks to support the sound development of fintech services and safeguard financial systems. They called for close international cooperation and coordination to address regulatory gaps and prevent the potential risk of a race to the bottom in regulatory compliance, including Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism compliance and the spread of global systemic risks.
Directors called on staff to work closely with the standard setting bodies (SSBs) and relevant international bodies, while avoiding duplication and overlap. They encouraged staff to continuously monitor and analyze fintech developments and consider their implications within the Fund’s mandate, focusing on analytical and country work with respect to cross border capital flows, financial integrity, national and global monetary and financial stability, and the evolution of the International Monetary System and global financial safety net.
ANNEX - The Bali Fintech Agenda
I. Embrace the Promise of Fintech with its far-reaching social and economic impact, particularly in low-income countries, small states, and for the underserved, and prepare to capture its possible wide-ranging benefits, including: increasing access to financial services and financial inclusion; deepening financial markets; and improving cross-border payments and remittance transfer systems. Reaping these benefits requires preparation, strengthening of institutional capacity, expanding outreach to stakeholders, and adopting a cross-agency approach involving relevant ministries and agencies.
II. Enable New Technologies to Enhance Financial Service Provision by facilitating foundational infrastructures, fostering their open and affordable access, and ensuring a conducive policy environment. Foundational infrastructures include telecommunications, along with digital and financial infrastructures (such as broadband internet, mobile data services, data repositories, and payment and settlement services). The infrastructures should enable efficient data collection, processing, and transmission, which are central in fintech advances.
See: International Anti-Money Laundering Standards for Crypto Expected in October
III. Reinforce Competition and Commitment to Open, Free, and Contestable Markets to ensure a level playing field and to promote innovation, consumer choice, and access to high-quality financial services. The successful and large-scale adoption of technology would be facilitated by an enabling policy framework regardless of the market participant, underlying technology, or method by which the service is provided. Policymakers should address the risks of market concentration, and should foster standardization, interoperability, and fair-and-transparent access to key infrastructures.
IV. Foster Fintech to Promote Financial Inclusion and Develop Financial Markets by overcoming challenges related to reach, customer information, and commercial viability, and by improving infrastructure. The evolving digital economy together with effective supervision are essential in overcoming long-standing barriers to financial inclusion across a broad range of financial services and in enabling developing countries to leverage promising new pathways for economic and financial development to support growth and alleviate poverty. Examples include expanding access to finance while reducing costs, providing new ways to raise funding, enabling new information services to assess risks, and spurring new businesses. To achieve these goals, fintech issues should be part of a national inclusion and financial and digital literacy strategies, while fostering knowledge-sharing between public- and private-sector players, civil society, and other stakeholders.
V. Monitor Developments Closely to Deepen Understanding of Evolving Financial Systems to support the formulation of policies that foster the benefits of fintech and mitigate potential risks. The rapid pace of fintech will necessitate improvements and possible extensions in the reach of monitoring frameworks to support public-policy goals and to avoid disruptions to the financial system. Information-sharing and exchange would support improved monitoring. Achieving these objectives brings out the importance of continuous monitoring—including by maintaining an ongoing dialogue with the industry, both innovators and incumbents—to identify emerging opportunities and risks, and to facilitate the timely formation of policy responses.
VI. Adapt Regulatory Framework and Supervisory Practices for Orderly Development and Stability of the Financial System and facilitate the safe entry of new products, activities, and intermediaries; sustain trust and confidence; and respond to risks. Many fintech risks might be addressed by existing regulatory frameworks. However, new issues may arise from new firms, products, and activities that lie outside the current regulatory perimeter. This may require the modification and adaptation of regulatory frameworks to contain risks of arbitrage, while recognizing that regulation should remain proportionate to the risks. Holistic policy responses may be needed at the national level, building on guidance provided by standard-setting bodies.
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BusinessWire release | Accenture | Oct 17, 2018 Digital-only banks, fintechs and big tech companies are quietly gaining customers, while incumbents struggle to make strategic investments in their digital future NEW YORK & LONDON & HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--New entrants to the banking market — including challenger banks, non-bank payments institutions and big tech companies — are amassing up to one-third of new revenue, which is challenging the competitiveness of traditional banks, according to new research from Accenture (NYSE:ACN). “As the banking industry experiences radical change, driven by regulation, new entrants and demanding consumers, banks will need to reassess their assets, strengths and capabilities to determine if they are taking their business in the right direction” Accenture analyzed more than 20,000 banking and payments institutions across seven markets to quantify the level of change and disruption in the global banking industry. The study found that the number of banking and payments institutions decreased by nearly 20 percent over a 12-year period — from 24,000 in 2005 to less than 19,300 in 2017. However, nearly one in six (17 percent) current institutions are what Accenture considers new entrants — i.e., companies entering the market after 2005. While few of these new players ...
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Forbes | Michael del Castillo | Oct 18, 2018 The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is launching a portal for engaging with companies using blockchain, artificial intelligence and more. Available today, the new fintech hub, or FinHub for short, is designed to bring the SEC’s existing services to a single access point and provide an easier way for companies to communicate with the public. As startups building with blockchain increasingly come under the SEC’s attention, the new portal has the potential to streamline the process of building compliant platforms prior to launch. The SEC’s FinHub will be led by Valerie A. Szczepanik, senior advisor for digital assets and innovation and associate director in the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance. “We’ve been doing these things for years,” Szczepanik told Forbes. “This is going to bring it all together.” The FinHub will be staffed by representatives from the SEC’s divisions and offices who have expertise and involvement in fintech-related issues. See: Canadian securities regulators provide additional guidance on securities law implications for offerings of tokens In addition to asking questions of the SEC, those who use the site will be able to request meetings. To increase engagement, a binary code “Easter egg” ...
Read More
Gowling WLG | Shaela W. Rae | October 17 2018 Black market. Dark web. Illicit. Underground market. Illegitimate. Illegal. Organized crime. All words used to describe the illegal cannabis industry, until October 17, 2018 that is. Once it is legal to buy, possess or use cannabis for recreational purposes the discussion around the use of cannabis and how to procure it changes from hushed words in a corner to an open conversation in public. But is the public ready to embrace a substance that has been seen as illegitimate and "bad" for so long? If the experience in the US can be relied upon, the answer is "yes". According to investment bank Cowen & Co., the cannabis industry is expected to reach sales of approximately US$75-billion by 2030, up from US$6-billion in 2016, as the drug is more socially accepted. In the US today cannabis is illegal on a federal level as it is classified as a Schedule 1 narcotic, but cannabis is legal in 30 states for medicinal purposes, and in 9 states and Washington, DC, for recreational use for adults over the age of 21. See: Canabis Company True Leaf Raises $14 Million in Cross Border US – ...
Read More
International Monetary Fund | Release | Oct 11, 2018 The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group today launched the Bali Fintech Agenda, a set of 12 policy elements aimed at helping member countries to harness the benefits and opportunities of rapid advances in financial technology that are transforming the provision of banking services, while at the same time managing the inherent risks. The Agenda proposes a framework of high-level issues that countries should consider in their own domestic policy discussions and aims to guide staff from the two institutions in their own work and dialogue with national authorities. The 12 elements (see table) were distilled from members’ own experiences and cover topics relating broadly to enabling fintech; ensuring financial sector resilience; addressing risks; and promoting international cooperation. “There are an estimated 1.7 billion adults in the world without access to financial services,” said IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde. “Fintech can have a major social and economic impact for them and across the membership in general. All countries are trying to reap these benefits, while also mitigating the risks. We need greater international cooperation to achieve that, and to make sure the fintech revolution benefits the many and not ...
Read More
Investment Executive | James Langton | Oct 12, 2018 Money laundering and tax evasion are key concerns Canadian policy-makers initially took a hands-off approach to cryptoassets. Now, in the wake of a bitcoin boom-and-bust and continuing growth in the cryptoassets market, policy-makers are taking a second look at the emerging phenomenon. In 2015, the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce issued one of Canada’s first reports examining the emerging cryptocurrency industry; that report recommends that policy-makers keep an eye on the space. Since then, the cryptoassets market has continued to grow. According to a report from the Bank of Canada (BoC), the global market capitalization for cryptoassets “grew rapidly” in 2017 and the daily transaction volume now is more than 75 times higher than it was in early 2017 – i.e., more than $25 billion a day. At this point, the BoC report states, traditional financial services institutions don’t have much, if any, direct exposure to cryptoassets, but the report cautions that these institutions could become exposed due to their clients’ trading in cryptoassets or through exchange trading in crypto-based derivatives. “Cryptoasset markets are evolving quickly and could have financial stability implications in the future if their size ...
Read More
NCFA Canada | Oct 13, 2018 Ep13-Oct 13: Road to Fintech IPO: Capital Networks, Scalable Solutions, Putting People First About this episode: On this episode, NCFA show host Manseeb Khan sits down with Ali Pourdad the CEO of Progressa who recently closed out an $84 million dollar round. They talk about P2P loans, loan services operating within the blockchain and why being people first business matters. Enjoy! (see Transcript) Host: Manseeb Khan, NCFA, Fintech Fridays show host Guest: ALI POURDAD, Co-founder and CEO, Progressa (LinkedIn) Bio: Ali Pourdad has been CEO of Progressa since its inception in 2013. Under his leadership the Company has raised over $40 million of investor capital and invested over $2.0 million dollars in its proprietary "Powered by Progressa" decision engine for Canadian Enterprise partners looking to enhance collections strategy in a positive way. The company has grown to over 110 employees in Vancouver and Toronto. Ali has decisively positioned Progressa for its next generation of growth by recently executing on several initiatives, including creating one of Canada's most popular Exempt Market Bond Offerings and securing an $11.4 million Series A financing . Prior to co-founding Progressa, Ali worked in both corporate restructuring and audit & assurance, ...
Read More
Beam Platform | Alec Gordon | Aug 24, 2018 THE PROBLEM The tech industry has gotten a rude awakening this year. Following a few high profile instances of data misuse, European Union has struck down the law and put everyone who sells into Europe (or deals with anyone who does) on notice. Since introduction, GDPR was meant to show both corporations and their users that better clarity around data collection/preservation is the necessary step forward, one that will lead to a fairer digital society, and ultimately benefit all those involved. And in order to do that, the companies themselves must take matters into their own hands by building new tools to let data flow back to the user. The customers demand it, and equally deserve to have control over their digital footprint. In the end this is an EU bill with global ramifications, and we should all be paying attention. By now you most of you have gotten dozens of emails on “updates to privacy policy” and other notices of forthcoming compliance. This is a welcome reminder that it is you, the user, who’s the focal point GDPR. After decades of computer and telephone use, the companies with whom we ...
Read More
Competition Bureau | Oct 10, 2018 Speech Remarks by Interim Commissioner of Competition Matthew Boswell Global Series 2018 October 10, 2018 Ottawa, Ontario Thank you. I’m pleased to be here to speak with you today. Thank you Makan, for your thoughts on these important issues. They are particularly relevant to businesses, the legal community, academia and governments around the world and to all of you who are gathered here today. Every day we see the world evolving at a rapid pace, thanks to innovation. Development of new technologies, ways of doing business and the creation of new products have the potential to open up new areas of science, medicine and technology. Small steps lead to bigger steps. And here in Canada, we have to be ready for both the challenges and opportunities that this is bringing to all of us. Let’s understand what we are up against. Every year, innovation in the top industrialized countries is tracked by leading authorities on the subject. And here’s what they report about Canada in 2018. On the plus side, Canada performs better than some others in four big areas: Human Capital and Research, Institutions, Infrastructure, and Market Sophistication. See: Canada’s ‘innovation economy’ has ...
Read More
Crowdfund Insider | Cali Haan | Oct 9, 2018 Vancouver-based cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX has been defending itself in court for the release of $28 million dollars in customer funds frozen by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) since January, the Globe and Mail reports. According to court documents filed by CIBC in the Canadian province of Ontario, the action to freeze the accounts was taken because the bank says, “it was unable to determine who owns the funds,” and would like the court to take possession of the money and distribute it to either QuadrigaCX, their payments processor Custodian Inc, or to the 388 affected Quadriga customers, the Globe and Mail writes. Entrepreneurs in the relatively new crypto sector industries complained for some time about bank non-cooperation. See: International Anti-Money Laundering Standards for Crypto Expected in October The cryptocurrency press in South America has reported on numerous account closures by banks against crypto exchanges on the continent, some of which are now being contested in courts by, among others, exchanges like Walltime in Brazil. Sources within the Toronto crypto entrepreneur scene say they have suffered persistent problems with getting their businesses banked in the city- even at credit unions- and have ...
Read More
Crunchbase News | Alex Wilhelm | October 8, 2018 Meet Nubank, a fintech shop out of Brazil that just raised $180 million from Tencent at a valuation of $4 billion. Forget the fact that the round is half secondary. It’s an enormous transaction, and in more normal times, it would cause a big stir. However, the capital event highlights something notable about Tencent: the China-based company’s investment cadence is staggering. Tencent is disbursing cash at a far faster rate than Alibaba, another Chinese tech shop that isn’t famous for parsimony. Tencent’s Early Christmas Tencent has been on a check-cutting bing recently, getting through eight investing rounds in September. Those ranged from a $1.5 billion deal with Lianjia (real estate services), a $450 million round for MissFresh E-Commerce (mobile grocery sales), to the comparatively staid $90 million Series B for WeShare (fintech something or other). October is looking similarly hot. Tencent is at four deals so far, and the month isn’t even half done. Here’s the list: October 1. Miniso’s 1 billion rmb Series A. October 4. Voyager Innovation’s $175 million private equity round. October 5. Bilibili’s $317.6 million post-IPO equity event. October 8. Nubank’s $180 million Series F (half secondary). Regarding Nubank, TechCrunch’s Jon Shieber has the ...
Read More
BusinessWire release | Accenture | Oct 17, 2018 Digital-only banks, fintechs and big tech companies are quietly gaining customers, while incumbents struggle to make strategic investments in their digital future NEW YORK & LONDON & HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--New entrants to the banking market — including challenger banks, non-bank payments institutions and big tech companies — are amassing up to one-third of new revenue, which is challenging the competitiveness of traditional banks, according to new research from Accenture (NYSE:ACN). “As the banking industry experiences radical change, driven by regulation, new entrants and demanding consumers, banks will need to reassess their assets, strengths and capabilities to determine if they are taking their business in the right direction” Accenture analyzed more than 20,000 banking and payments institutions across seven markets to quantify the level of change and disruption in the global banking industry. The study found that the number of banking and payments institutions decreased by nearly 20 percent over a 12-year period — from 24,000 in 2005 to less than 19,300 in 2017. However, nearly one in six (17 percent) current institutions are what Accenture considers new entrants — i.e., companies entering the market after 2005. While few of these new players ...
Read More
Read More
Forbes | Michael del Castillo | Oct 18, 2018 The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is launching a portal for engaging with companies using blockchain, artificial intelligence and more. Available today, the new fintech hub, or FinHub for short, is designed to bring the SEC’s existing services to a single access point and provide an easier way for companies to communicate with the public. As startups building with blockchain increasingly come under the SEC’s attention, the new portal has the potential to streamline the process of building compliant platforms prior to launch. The SEC’s FinHub will be led by Valerie A. Szczepanik, senior advisor for digital assets and innovation and associate director in the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance. “We’ve been doing these things for years,” Szczepanik told Forbes. “This is going to bring it all together.” The FinHub will be staffed by representatives from the SEC’s divisions and offices who have expertise and involvement in fintech-related issues. See: Canadian securities regulators provide additional guidance on securities law implications for offerings of tokens In addition to asking questions of the SEC, those who use the site will be able to request meetings. To increase engagement, a binary code “Easter egg” ...
Read More
Read More
Gowling WLG | Shaela W. Rae | October 17 2018 Black market. Dark web. Illicit. Underground market. Illegitimate. Illegal. Organized crime. All words used to describe the illegal cannabis industry, until October 17, 2018 that is. Once it is legal to buy, possess or use cannabis for recreational purposes the discussion around the use of cannabis and how to procure it changes from hushed words in a corner to an open conversation in public. But is the public ready to embrace a substance that has been seen as illegitimate and "bad" for so long? If the experience in the US can be relied upon, the answer is "yes". According to investment bank Cowen & Co., the cannabis industry is expected to reach sales of approximately US$75-billion by 2030, up from US$6-billion in 2016, as the drug is more socially accepted. In the US today cannabis is illegal on a federal level as it is classified as a Schedule 1 narcotic, but cannabis is legal in 30 states for medicinal purposes, and in 9 states and Washington, DC, for recreational use for adults over the age of 21. See: Canabis Company True Leaf Raises $14 Million in Cross Border US – ...
Read More
Read More
International Monetary Fund | Release | Oct 11, 2018 The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group today launched the Bali Fintech Agenda, a set of 12 policy elements aimed at helping member countries to harness the benefits and opportunities of rapid advances in financial technology that are transforming the provision of banking services, while at the same time managing the inherent risks. The Agenda proposes a framework of high-level issues that countries should consider in their own domestic policy discussions and aims to guide staff from the two institutions in their own work and dialogue with national authorities. The 12 elements (see table) were distilled from members’ own experiences and cover topics relating broadly to enabling fintech; ensuring financial sector resilience; addressing risks; and promoting international cooperation. “There are an estimated 1.7 billion adults in the world without access to financial services,” said IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde. “Fintech can have a major social and economic impact for them and across the membership in general. All countries are trying to reap these benefits, while also mitigating the risks. We need greater international cooperation to achieve that, and to make sure the fintech revolution benefits the many and not ...
Read More
Read More
Investment Executive | James Langton | Oct 12, 2018 Money laundering and tax evasion are key concerns Canadian policy-makers initially took a hands-off approach to cryptoassets. Now, in the wake of a bitcoin boom-and-bust and continuing growth in the cryptoassets market, policy-makers are taking a second look at the emerging phenomenon. In 2015, the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce issued one of Canada’s first reports examining the emerging cryptocurrency industry; that report recommends that policy-makers keep an eye on the space. Since then, the cryptoassets market has continued to grow. According to a report from the Bank of Canada (BoC), the global market capitalization for cryptoassets “grew rapidly” in 2017 and the daily transaction volume now is more than 75 times higher than it was in early 2017 – i.e., more than $25 billion a day. At this point, the BoC report states, traditional financial services institutions don’t have much, if any, direct exposure to cryptoassets, but the report cautions that these institutions could become exposed due to their clients’ trading in cryptoassets or through exchange trading in crypto-based derivatives. “Cryptoasset markets are evolving quickly and could have financial stability implications in the future if their size ...
Read More
Read More
NCFA Canada | Oct 13, 2018 Ep13-Oct 13: Road to Fintech IPO: Capital Networks, Scalable Solutions, Putting People First About this episode: On this episode, NCFA show host Manseeb Khan sits down with Ali Pourdad the CEO of Progressa who recently closed out an $84 million dollar round. They talk about P2P loans, loan services operating within the blockchain and why being people first business matters. Enjoy! (see Transcript) Host: Manseeb Khan, NCFA, Fintech Fridays show host Guest: ALI POURDAD, Co-founder and CEO, Progressa (LinkedIn) Bio: Ali Pourdad has been CEO of Progressa since its inception in 2013. Under his leadership the Company has raised over $40 million of investor capital and invested over $2.0 million dollars in its proprietary "Powered by Progressa" decision engine for Canadian Enterprise partners looking to enhance collections strategy in a positive way. The company has grown to over 110 employees in Vancouver and Toronto. Ali has decisively positioned Progressa for its next generation of growth by recently executing on several initiatives, including creating one of Canada's most popular Exempt Market Bond Offerings and securing an $11.4 million Series A financing . Prior to co-founding Progressa, Ali worked in both corporate restructuring and audit & assurance, ...
Read More
Read More
Beam Platform | Alec Gordon | Aug 24, 2018 THE PROBLEM The tech industry has gotten a rude awakening this year. Following a few high profile instances of data misuse, European Union has struck down the law and put everyone who sells into Europe (or deals with anyone who does) on notice. Since introduction, GDPR was meant to show both corporations and their users that better clarity around data collection/preservation is the necessary step forward, one that will lead to a fairer digital society, and ultimately benefit all those involved. And in order to do that, the companies themselves must take matters into their own hands by building new tools to let data flow back to the user. The customers demand it, and equally deserve to have control over their digital footprint. In the end this is an EU bill with global ramifications, and we should all be paying attention. By now you most of you have gotten dozens of emails on “updates to privacy policy” and other notices of forthcoming compliance. This is a welcome reminder that it is you, the user, who’s the focal point GDPR. After decades of computer and telephone use, the companies with whom we ...
Read More
Read More
Competition Bureau | Oct 10, 2018 Speech Remarks by Interim Commissioner of Competition Matthew Boswell Global Series 2018 October 10, 2018 Ottawa, Ontario Thank you. I’m pleased to be here to speak with you today. Thank you Makan, for your thoughts on these important issues. They are particularly relevant to businesses, the legal community, academia and governments around the world and to all of you who are gathered here today. Every day we see the world evolving at a rapid pace, thanks to innovation. Development of new technologies, ways of doing business and the creation of new products have the potential to open up new areas of science, medicine and technology. Small steps lead to bigger steps. And here in Canada, we have to be ready for both the challenges and opportunities that this is bringing to all of us. Let’s understand what we are up against. Every year, innovation in the top industrialized countries is tracked by leading authorities on the subject. And here’s what they report about Canada in 2018. On the plus side, Canada performs better than some others in four big areas: Human Capital and Research, Institutions, Infrastructure, and Market Sophistication. See: Canada’s ‘innovation economy’ has ...
Read More
Read More
Crowdfund Insider | Cali Haan | Oct 9, 2018 Vancouver-based cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX has been defending itself in court for the release of $28 million dollars in customer funds frozen by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) since January, the Globe and Mail reports. According to court documents filed by CIBC in the Canadian province of Ontario, the action to freeze the accounts was taken because the bank says, “it was unable to determine who owns the funds,” and would like the court to take possession of the money and distribute it to either QuadrigaCX, their payments processor Custodian Inc, or to the 388 affected Quadriga customers, the Globe and Mail writes. Entrepreneurs in the relatively new crypto sector industries complained for some time about bank non-cooperation. See: International Anti-Money Laundering Standards for Crypto Expected in October The cryptocurrency press in South America has reported on numerous account closures by banks against crypto exchanges on the continent, some of which are now being contested in courts by, among others, exchanges like Walltime in Brazil. Sources within the Toronto crypto entrepreneur scene say they have suffered persistent problems with getting their businesses banked in the city- even at credit unions- and have ...
Read More
Read More
Crunchbase News | Alex Wilhelm | October 8, 2018 Meet Nubank, a fintech shop out of Brazil that just raised $180 million from Tencent at a valuation of $4 billion. Forget the fact that the round is half secondary. It’s an enormous transaction, and in more normal times, it would cause a big stir. However, the capital event highlights something notable about Tencent: the China-based company’s investment cadence is staggering. Tencent is disbursing cash at a far faster rate than Alibaba, another Chinese tech shop that isn’t famous for parsimony. Tencent’s Early Christmas Tencent has been on a check-cutting bing recently, getting through eight investing rounds in September. Those ranged from a $1.5 billion deal with Lianjia (real estate services), a $450 million round for MissFresh E-Commerce (mobile grocery sales), to the comparatively staid $90 million Series B for WeShare (fintech something or other). October is looking similarly hot. Tencent is at four deals so far, and the month isn’t even half done. Here’s the list: October 1. Miniso’s 1 billion rmb Series A. October 4. Voyager Innovation’s $175 million private equity round. October 5. Bilibili’s $317.6 million post-IPO equity event. October 8. Nubank’s $180 million Series F (half secondary). Regarding Nubank, TechCrunch’s Jon Shieber has the ...
Read More
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Nubank Investment Underscores Tencent’s Quick Investing Pace
Crunchbase News | October 8, 2018
Meet Nubank, a fintech shop out of Brazil that just raised $180 million from Tencent at a valuation of $4 billion. Forget the fact that the round is half secondary. It’s an enormous transaction, and in more normal times, it would cause a big stir.
However, the capital event highlights something notable about Tencent: the China-based company’s investment cadence is staggering. Tencent is disbursing cash at a far faster rate than Alibaba, another Chinese tech shop that isn’t famous for parsimony.
Tencent’s Early Christmas
Tencent has been on a check-cutting bing recently, getting through eight investing rounds in September. Those ranged from a $1.5 billion deal with Lianjia (real estate services), a $450 million round for MissFresh E-Commerce (mobile grocery sales), to the comparatively staid $90 million Series B for WeShare (fintech something or other).
October is looking similarly hot. Tencent is at four deals so far, and the month isn’t even half done. Here’s the list:
- October 1. Miniso’s 1 billion rmb Series A.
- October 4. Voyager Innovation’s $175 million private equity round.
- October 5. Bilibili’s $317.6 million post-IPO equity event.
- October 8. Nubank’s $180 million Series F (half secondary).
Regarding Nubank, TechCrunch’s Jon Shieber has the story, including why the Brazilian and Chinese companies are swapping shares for cash:
See:
-
Fintech As a Pathway to Financial Inclusion? The Case of China
-
Exclusive: Ant Financial shifts focus from finance to tech services: sources
-
FINTECH FRIDAY$ (EP.11-Sep 28): How Amazon Bank is Dominating and Risks of a Digital Bifurcated World
Continue to the full article --> here
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BusinessWire release | Accenture | Oct 17, 2018 Digital-only banks, fintechs and big tech companies are quietly gaining customers, while incumbents struggle to make strategic investments in their digital future NEW YORK & LONDON & HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--New entrants to the banking market — including challenger banks, non-bank payments institutions and big tech companies — are amassing up to one-third of new revenue, which is challenging the competitiveness of traditional banks, according to new research from Accenture (NYSE:ACN). “As the banking industry experiences radical change, driven by regulation, new entrants and demanding consumers, banks will need to reassess their assets, strengths and capabilities to determine if they are taking their business in the right direction” Accenture analyzed more than 20,000 banking and payments institutions across seven markets to quantify the level of change and disruption in the global banking industry. The study found that the number of banking and payments institutions decreased by nearly 20 percent over a 12-year period — from 24,000 in 2005 to less than 19,300 in 2017. However, nearly one in six (17 percent) current institutions are what Accenture considers new entrants — i.e., companies entering the market after 2005. While few of these new players ...
Read More
Forbes | Michael del Castillo | Oct 18, 2018 The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is launching a portal for engaging with companies using blockchain, artificial intelligence and more. Available today, the new fintech hub, or FinHub for short, is designed to bring the SEC’s existing services to a single access point and provide an easier way for companies to communicate with the public. As startups building with blockchain increasingly come under the SEC’s attention, the new portal has the potential to streamline the process of building compliant platforms prior to launch. The SEC’s FinHub will be led by Valerie A. Szczepanik, senior advisor for digital assets and innovation and associate director in the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance. “We’ve been doing these things for years,” Szczepanik told Forbes. “This is going to bring it all together.” The FinHub will be staffed by representatives from the SEC’s divisions and offices who have expertise and involvement in fintech-related issues. See: Canadian securities regulators provide additional guidance on securities law implications for offerings of tokens In addition to asking questions of the SEC, those who use the site will be able to request meetings. To increase engagement, a binary code “Easter egg” ...
Read More
Gowling WLG | Shaela W. Rae | October 17 2018 Black market. Dark web. Illicit. Underground market. Illegitimate. Illegal. Organized crime. All words used to describe the illegal cannabis industry, until October 17, 2018 that is. Once it is legal to buy, possess or use cannabis for recreational purposes the discussion around the use of cannabis and how to procure it changes from hushed words in a corner to an open conversation in public. But is the public ready to embrace a substance that has been seen as illegitimate and "bad" for so long? If the experience in the US can be relied upon, the answer is "yes". According to investment bank Cowen & Co., the cannabis industry is expected to reach sales of approximately US$75-billion by 2030, up from US$6-billion in 2016, as the drug is more socially accepted. In the US today cannabis is illegal on a federal level as it is classified as a Schedule 1 narcotic, but cannabis is legal in 30 states for medicinal purposes, and in 9 states and Washington, DC, for recreational use for adults over the age of 21. See: Canabis Company True Leaf Raises $14 Million in Cross Border US – ...
Read More
International Monetary Fund | Release | Oct 11, 2018 The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group today launched the Bali Fintech Agenda, a set of 12 policy elements aimed at helping member countries to harness the benefits and opportunities of rapid advances in financial technology that are transforming the provision of banking services, while at the same time managing the inherent risks. The Agenda proposes a framework of high-level issues that countries should consider in their own domestic policy discussions and aims to guide staff from the two institutions in their own work and dialogue with national authorities. The 12 elements (see table) were distilled from members’ own experiences and cover topics relating broadly to enabling fintech; ensuring financial sector resilience; addressing risks; and promoting international cooperation. “There are an estimated 1.7 billion adults in the world without access to financial services,” said IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde. “Fintech can have a major social and economic impact for them and across the membership in general. All countries are trying to reap these benefits, while also mitigating the risks. We need greater international cooperation to achieve that, and to make sure the fintech revolution benefits the many and not ...
Read More
Investment Executive | James Langton | Oct 12, 2018 Money laundering and tax evasion are key concerns Canadian policy-makers initially took a hands-off approach to cryptoassets. Now, in the wake of a bitcoin boom-and-bust and continuing growth in the cryptoassets market, policy-makers are taking a second look at the emerging phenomenon. In 2015, the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce issued one of Canada’s first reports examining the emerging cryptocurrency industry; that report recommends that policy-makers keep an eye on the space. Since then, the cryptoassets market has continued to grow. According to a report from the Bank of Canada (BoC), the global market capitalization for cryptoassets “grew rapidly” in 2017 and the daily transaction volume now is more than 75 times higher than it was in early 2017 – i.e., more than $25 billion a day. At this point, the BoC report states, traditional financial services institutions don’t have much, if any, direct exposure to cryptoassets, but the report cautions that these institutions could become exposed due to their clients’ trading in cryptoassets or through exchange trading in crypto-based derivatives. “Cryptoasset markets are evolving quickly and could have financial stability implications in the future if their size ...
Read More
NCFA Canada | Oct 13, 2018 Ep13-Oct 13: Road to Fintech IPO: Capital Networks, Scalable Solutions, Putting People First About this episode: On this episode, NCFA show host Manseeb Khan sits down with Ali Pourdad the CEO of Progressa who recently closed out an $84 million dollar round. They talk about P2P loans, loan services operating within the blockchain and why being people first business matters. Enjoy! (see Transcript) Host: Manseeb Khan, NCFA, Fintech Fridays show host Guest: ALI POURDAD, Co-founder and CEO, Progressa (LinkedIn) Bio: Ali Pourdad has been CEO of Progressa since its inception in 2013. Under his leadership the Company has raised over $40 million of investor capital and invested over $2.0 million dollars in its proprietary "Powered by Progressa" decision engine for Canadian Enterprise partners looking to enhance collections strategy in a positive way. The company has grown to over 110 employees in Vancouver and Toronto. Ali has decisively positioned Progressa for its next generation of growth by recently executing on several initiatives, including creating one of Canada's most popular Exempt Market Bond Offerings and securing an $11.4 million Series A financing . Prior to co-founding Progressa, Ali worked in both corporate restructuring and audit & assurance, ...
Read More
Beam Platform | Alec Gordon | Aug 24, 2018 THE PROBLEM The tech industry has gotten a rude awakening this year. Following a few high profile instances of data misuse, European Union has struck down the law and put everyone who sells into Europe (or deals with anyone who does) on notice. Since introduction, GDPR was meant to show both corporations and their users that better clarity around data collection/preservation is the necessary step forward, one that will lead to a fairer digital society, and ultimately benefit all those involved. And in order to do that, the companies themselves must take matters into their own hands by building new tools to let data flow back to the user. The customers demand it, and equally deserve to have control over their digital footprint. In the end this is an EU bill with global ramifications, and we should all be paying attention. By now you most of you have gotten dozens of emails on “updates to privacy policy” and other notices of forthcoming compliance. This is a welcome reminder that it is you, the user, who’s the focal point GDPR. After decades of computer and telephone use, the companies with whom we ...
Read More
Competition Bureau | Oct 10, 2018 Speech Remarks by Interim Commissioner of Competition Matthew Boswell Global Series 2018 October 10, 2018 Ottawa, Ontario Thank you. I’m pleased to be here to speak with you today. Thank you Makan, for your thoughts on these important issues. They are particularly relevant to businesses, the legal community, academia and governments around the world and to all of you who are gathered here today. Every day we see the world evolving at a rapid pace, thanks to innovation. Development of new technologies, ways of doing business and the creation of new products have the potential to open up new areas of science, medicine and technology. Small steps lead to bigger steps. And here in Canada, we have to be ready for both the challenges and opportunities that this is bringing to all of us. Let’s understand what we are up against. Every year, innovation in the top industrialized countries is tracked by leading authorities on the subject. And here’s what they report about Canada in 2018. On the plus side, Canada performs better than some others in four big areas: Human Capital and Research, Institutions, Infrastructure, and Market Sophistication. See: Canada’s ‘innovation economy’ has ...
Read More
Crowdfund Insider | Cali Haan | Oct 9, 2018 Vancouver-based cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX has been defending itself in court for the release of $28 million dollars in customer funds frozen by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) since January, the Globe and Mail reports. According to court documents filed by CIBC in the Canadian province of Ontario, the action to freeze the accounts was taken because the bank says, “it was unable to determine who owns the funds,” and would like the court to take possession of the money and distribute it to either QuadrigaCX, their payments processor Custodian Inc, or to the 388 affected Quadriga customers, the Globe and Mail writes. Entrepreneurs in the relatively new crypto sector industries complained for some time about bank non-cooperation. See: International Anti-Money Laundering Standards for Crypto Expected in October The cryptocurrency press in South America has reported on numerous account closures by banks against crypto exchanges on the continent, some of which are now being contested in courts by, among others, exchanges like Walltime in Brazil. Sources within the Toronto crypto entrepreneur scene say they have suffered persistent problems with getting their businesses banked in the city- even at credit unions- and have ...
Read More
Crunchbase News | Alex Wilhelm | October 8, 2018 Meet Nubank, a fintech shop out of Brazil that just raised $180 million from Tencent at a valuation of $4 billion. Forget the fact that the round is half secondary. It’s an enormous transaction, and in more normal times, it would cause a big stir. However, the capital event highlights something notable about Tencent: the China-based company’s investment cadence is staggering. Tencent is disbursing cash at a far faster rate than Alibaba, another Chinese tech shop that isn’t famous for parsimony. Tencent’s Early Christmas Tencent has been on a check-cutting bing recently, getting through eight investing rounds in September. Those ranged from a $1.5 billion deal with Lianjia (real estate services), a $450 million round for MissFresh E-Commerce (mobile grocery sales), to the comparatively staid $90 million Series B for WeShare (fintech something or other). October is looking similarly hot. Tencent is at four deals so far, and the month isn’t even half done. Here’s the list: October 1. Miniso’s 1 billion rmb Series A. October 4. Voyager Innovation’s $175 million private equity round. October 5. Bilibili’s $317.6 million post-IPO equity event. October 8. Nubank’s $180 million Series F (half secondary). Regarding Nubank, TechCrunch’s Jon Shieber has the ...
Read More
BusinessWire release | Accenture | Oct 17, 2018 Digital-only banks, fintechs and big tech companies are quietly gaining customers, while incumbents struggle to make strategic investments in their digital future NEW YORK & LONDON & HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--New entrants to the banking market — including challenger banks, non-bank payments institutions and big tech companies — are amassing up to one-third of new revenue, which is challenging the competitiveness of traditional banks, according to new research from Accenture (NYSE:ACN). “As the banking industry experiences radical change, driven by regulation, new entrants and demanding consumers, banks will need to reassess their assets, strengths and capabilities to determine if they are taking their business in the right direction” Accenture analyzed more than 20,000 banking and payments institutions across seven markets to quantify the level of change and disruption in the global banking industry. The study found that the number of banking and payments institutions decreased by nearly 20 percent over a 12-year period — from 24,000 in 2005 to less than 19,300 in 2017. However, nearly one in six (17 percent) current institutions are what Accenture considers new entrants — i.e., companies entering the market after 2005. While few of these new players ...
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Forbes | Michael del Castillo | Oct 18, 2018 The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is launching a portal for engaging with companies using blockchain, artificial intelligence and more. Available today, the new fintech hub, or FinHub for short, is designed to bring the SEC’s existing services to a single access point and provide an easier way for companies to communicate with the public. As startups building with blockchain increasingly come under the SEC’s attention, the new portal has the potential to streamline the process of building compliant platforms prior to launch. The SEC’s FinHub will be led by Valerie A. Szczepanik, senior advisor for digital assets and innovation and associate director in the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance. “We’ve been doing these things for years,” Szczepanik told Forbes. “This is going to bring it all together.” The FinHub will be staffed by representatives from the SEC’s divisions and offices who have expertise and involvement in fintech-related issues. See: Canadian securities regulators provide additional guidance on securities law implications for offerings of tokens In addition to asking questions of the SEC, those who use the site will be able to request meetings. To increase engagement, a binary code “Easter egg” ...
Read More
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Gowling WLG | Shaela W. Rae | October 17 2018 Black market. Dark web. Illicit. Underground market. Illegitimate. Illegal. Organized crime. All words used to describe the illegal cannabis industry, until October 17, 2018 that is. Once it is legal to buy, possess or use cannabis for recreational purposes the discussion around the use of cannabis and how to procure it changes from hushed words in a corner to an open conversation in public. But is the public ready to embrace a substance that has been seen as illegitimate and "bad" for so long? If the experience in the US can be relied upon, the answer is "yes". According to investment bank Cowen & Co., the cannabis industry is expected to reach sales of approximately US$75-billion by 2030, up from US$6-billion in 2016, as the drug is more socially accepted. In the US today cannabis is illegal on a federal level as it is classified as a Schedule 1 narcotic, but cannabis is legal in 30 states for medicinal purposes, and in 9 states and Washington, DC, for recreational use for adults over the age of 21. See: Canabis Company True Leaf Raises $14 Million in Cross Border US – ...
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International Monetary Fund | Release | Oct 11, 2018 The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group today launched the Bali Fintech Agenda, a set of 12 policy elements aimed at helping member countries to harness the benefits and opportunities of rapid advances in financial technology that are transforming the provision of banking services, while at the same time managing the inherent risks. The Agenda proposes a framework of high-level issues that countries should consider in their own domestic policy discussions and aims to guide staff from the two institutions in their own work and dialogue with national authorities. The 12 elements (see table) were distilled from members’ own experiences and cover topics relating broadly to enabling fintech; ensuring financial sector resilience; addressing risks; and promoting international cooperation. “There are an estimated 1.7 billion adults in the world without access to financial services,” said IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde. “Fintech can have a major social and economic impact for them and across the membership in general. All countries are trying to reap these benefits, while also mitigating the risks. We need greater international cooperation to achieve that, and to make sure the fintech revolution benefits the many and not ...
Read More
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Investment Executive | James Langton | Oct 12, 2018 Money laundering and tax evasion are key concerns Canadian policy-makers initially took a hands-off approach to cryptoassets. Now, in the wake of a bitcoin boom-and-bust and continuing growth in the cryptoassets market, policy-makers are taking a second look at the emerging phenomenon. In 2015, the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce issued one of Canada’s first reports examining the emerging cryptocurrency industry; that report recommends that policy-makers keep an eye on the space. Since then, the cryptoassets market has continued to grow. According to a report from the Bank of Canada (BoC), the global market capitalization for cryptoassets “grew rapidly” in 2017 and the daily transaction volume now is more than 75 times higher than it was in early 2017 – i.e., more than $25 billion a day. At this point, the BoC report states, traditional financial services institutions don’t have much, if any, direct exposure to cryptoassets, but the report cautions that these institutions could become exposed due to their clients’ trading in cryptoassets or through exchange trading in crypto-based derivatives. “Cryptoasset markets are evolving quickly and could have financial stability implications in the future if their size ...
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NCFA Canada | Oct 13, 2018 Ep13-Oct 13: Road to Fintech IPO: Capital Networks, Scalable Solutions, Putting People First About this episode: On this episode, NCFA show host Manseeb Khan sits down with Ali Pourdad the CEO of Progressa who recently closed out an $84 million dollar round. They talk about P2P loans, loan services operating within the blockchain and why being people first business matters. Enjoy! (see Transcript) Host: Manseeb Khan, NCFA, Fintech Fridays show host Guest: ALI POURDAD, Co-founder and CEO, Progressa (LinkedIn) Bio: Ali Pourdad has been CEO of Progressa since its inception in 2013. Under his leadership the Company has raised over $40 million of investor capital and invested over $2.0 million dollars in its proprietary "Powered by Progressa" decision engine for Canadian Enterprise partners looking to enhance collections strategy in a positive way. The company has grown to over 110 employees in Vancouver and Toronto. Ali has decisively positioned Progressa for its next generation of growth by recently executing on several initiatives, including creating one of Canada's most popular Exempt Market Bond Offerings and securing an $11.4 million Series A financing . Prior to co-founding Progressa, Ali worked in both corporate restructuring and audit & assurance, ...
Read More
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Beam Platform | Alec Gordon | Aug 24, 2018 THE PROBLEM The tech industry has gotten a rude awakening this year. Following a few high profile instances of data misuse, European Union has struck down the law and put everyone who sells into Europe (or deals with anyone who does) on notice. Since introduction, GDPR was meant to show both corporations and their users that better clarity around data collection/preservation is the necessary step forward, one that will lead to a fairer digital society, and ultimately benefit all those involved. And in order to do that, the companies themselves must take matters into their own hands by building new tools to let data flow back to the user. The customers demand it, and equally deserve to have control over their digital footprint. In the end this is an EU bill with global ramifications, and we should all be paying attention. By now you most of you have gotten dozens of emails on “updates to privacy policy” and other notices of forthcoming compliance. This is a welcome reminder that it is you, the user, who’s the focal point GDPR. After decades of computer and telephone use, the companies with whom we ...
Read More
Read More
Competition Bureau | Oct 10, 2018 Speech Remarks by Interim Commissioner of Competition Matthew Boswell Global Series 2018 October 10, 2018 Ottawa, Ontario Thank you. I’m pleased to be here to speak with you today. Thank you Makan, for your thoughts on these important issues. They are particularly relevant to businesses, the legal community, academia and governments around the world and to all of you who are gathered here today. Every day we see the world evolving at a rapid pace, thanks to innovation. Development of new technologies, ways of doing business and the creation of new products have the potential to open up new areas of science, medicine and technology. Small steps lead to bigger steps. And here in Canada, we have to be ready for both the challenges and opportunities that this is bringing to all of us. Let’s understand what we are up against. Every year, innovation in the top industrialized countries is tracked by leading authorities on the subject. And here’s what they report about Canada in 2018. On the plus side, Canada performs better than some others in four big areas: Human Capital and Research, Institutions, Infrastructure, and Market Sophistication. See: Canada’s ‘innovation economy’ has ...
Read More
Read More
Crowdfund Insider | Cali Haan | Oct 9, 2018 Vancouver-based cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX has been defending itself in court for the release of $28 million dollars in customer funds frozen by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) since January, the Globe and Mail reports. According to court documents filed by CIBC in the Canadian province of Ontario, the action to freeze the accounts was taken because the bank says, “it was unable to determine who owns the funds,” and would like the court to take possession of the money and distribute it to either QuadrigaCX, their payments processor Custodian Inc, or to the 388 affected Quadriga customers, the Globe and Mail writes. Entrepreneurs in the relatively new crypto sector industries complained for some time about bank non-cooperation. See: International Anti-Money Laundering Standards for Crypto Expected in October The cryptocurrency press in South America has reported on numerous account closures by banks against crypto exchanges on the continent, some of which are now being contested in courts by, among others, exchanges like Walltime in Brazil. Sources within the Toronto crypto entrepreneur scene say they have suffered persistent problems with getting their businesses banked in the city- even at credit unions- and have ...
Read More
Read More
Crunchbase News | Alex Wilhelm | October 8, 2018 Meet Nubank, a fintech shop out of Brazil that just raised $180 million from Tencent at a valuation of $4 billion. Forget the fact that the round is half secondary. It’s an enormous transaction, and in more normal times, it would cause a big stir. However, the capital event highlights something notable about Tencent: the China-based company’s investment cadence is staggering. Tencent is disbursing cash at a far faster rate than Alibaba, another Chinese tech shop that isn’t famous for parsimony. Tencent’s Early Christmas Tencent has been on a check-cutting bing recently, getting through eight investing rounds in September. Those ranged from a $1.5 billion deal with Lianjia (real estate services), a $450 million round for MissFresh E-Commerce (mobile grocery sales), to the comparatively staid $90 million Series B for WeShare (fintech something or other). October is looking similarly hot. Tencent is at four deals so far, and the month isn’t even half done. Here’s the list: October 1. Miniso’s 1 billion rmb Series A. October 4. Voyager Innovation’s $175 million private equity round. October 5. Bilibili’s $317.6 million post-IPO equity event. October 8. Nubank’s $180 million Series F (half secondary). Regarding Nubank, TechCrunch’s Jon Shieber has the ...
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The Future of Government… in a Digital Age
Peter Diamandis | Blog | Oct 8, 2018
Governments are one of the last strongholds of an undigitized, linear sector of humanity, and they are falling behind fast.
Apart from their struggle to keep up with private sector digitization, federal governments are in a crisis of trust.
At almost a 60-year low, only 19 percent of Americans reported that they could trust their government “always” or “most of the time” in a recent Pew survey. And the U.S. is not alone.
See: Immersive 2-day Blockchain Developer Training Course (Nov 10-11, Toronto): Decentralized Application Development
The Edelman Trust Barometer revealed last year that 47 percent of the world population distrust their nations’ institutions. Even in Canada, only 26 percent of surveyed Canadians consider regulators and government officials to be credible.
In many cases, the private sector — particularly tech behemoths — are driving greater progress in regulation-targeted issues like climate change than state leaders.
And as decentralized systems, digital disruption, and private sector leadership take the world by storm, traditional forms of government are beginning to fear irrelevance.
However, the fight for exponential governance is not a lost battle.
Early visionaries like Estonia and the UAE are leading the way in digital governance, empowered by a host of converging technologies.
In this blog, we will cover three key trends:
- Digital governance divorced from land
- AI-driven service delivery and regulation
- Blockchain-enforced transparency
Let’s dive in.
Governments Going Digital
States and their governments have forever been tied to physical territories, and public services are often delivered through brick-and-mortar institutions.
Yet public sector infrastructure and services will soon be hosted on servers, detached from land and physical form.
Enter e-Estonia.
Perhaps the least expected on a list of innovative nations, this former Soviet Republic-turned digital society is ushering in an age of technological statecraft.
Hosting every digitizable government function on the cloud, Estonia could run its government almost entirely on a server.
Starting in the 1990s, Estonia’s government has covered the nation with ultra-high-speed data connectivity, laying down tremendous amounts of fiber-optic cable. By 2007, citizens could vote from their living rooms.
With digitized law, Estonia signs policies into effect using cryptographically secure digital signatures, and every stage of the legislative process is available to citizens online.
Citizens’ healthcare registry is run on the blockchain, allowing patients to own and access their own health data from anywhere in the world — X-rays, digital prescriptions, medical case notes — all the while tracking who has access.
See: Plowing Ahead: Bermuda Continues Crypto-Friendly Push With Digital ID Partnership
Today, most banks have closed their offices as 99 percent of banking transactions occur online (with 40 percent of citizens using cryptographically secured e-IDs). And by 2020, e-tax will be entirely automated with Estonia’s new e-Tax and Customs Board portal, allowing companies and tax authority to exchange data automatically.
And i-Voting, civil courts, land registries, banking, taxes, and countless e-facilities allow citizens to access almost any government service with an electronic ID and personal PIN online.
But perhaps Estonia’s most revolutionary breakthrough is its recently introduced e-citizenship.
With over 30,000 e-residents, Estonia issues electronic IDs to global residents anywhere in the world. While e-residency doesn’t grant territorial rights, over 5,000 e-residents have already established companies within Estonia’s jurisdiction.
After registering companies online, entrepreneurs pay automated taxes — calculated in minutes and transmitted to the Estonian government with unprecedented ease.
The implications of e-residency and digital governance are huge. As with any software, open-source code for digital governance could be copied perfectly at almost zero cost, lowering the barrier to entry for any group or movement seeking statehood.
We may soon see the rise of competitive governing ecosystems, each testing new infrastructure and public e-services to compete with mainstream governments for taxpaying citizens.
And what better to accelerate digital governance than AI?
Legal Compliance Through AI
Just last year, the UAE became the first nation to appoint a State Minister for AI (actually a friend of mine, H.E. Omar Al Olama), aiming to digitize government services and halve annual costs. Among multiple sector initiatives, the UAE hopes to deploy robotic cops by 2030.
Meanwhile, the U.K. now has a Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence, and just last month, world leaders convened at the World Government Summit to discuss guidelines for AI’s global regulation.
As AI infuses government services, emerging applications have caught my eye:
- Smart Borders and Checkpoints:
With biometrics and facial recognition, traditional checkpoints will soon be a thing of the past.
Cubic Transportation Systems — the company behind London’s ticketless public transit — is currently developing facial recognition for automated transport barriers. Digital security company Gemalto predicts that biometric systems will soon cross-reference individual faces with passport databases at security checkpoints, and China has already begun to test this at scale.
See: Exclusive: Ant Financial shifts focus from finance to tech services: sources
While the Alibaba Ant Financial affiliate’s “Smile to Pay” feature allows users to authenticate digital payments with their face, nationally overseen facial recognition technologies allow passengers to board planes, employees to enter office spaces, and students to access university halls.
With biometric-geared surveillance at national borders, supply chains and international travelers could be tracked automatically, and granted or denied access according to biometrics and cross-referenced databases.
- Policing and Security:
Leveraging predictive analytics, China is also working to integrate security footage into a national surveillance and data-sharing system. By merging citizen data in its “Police Cloud” — including everything from criminal and medical records, transaction data, travel records and social media — it may soon be able to spot suspects and predict crime in advance.
But China is not alone.
During London’s Notting Hill Carnival this year, the Metropolitan Police used facial recognition cross-referenced with crime data to pre-identify and track likely offenders.
- Smart Courts:
AI may soon be reaching legal trials as well.
UCL computer scientists have developed software capable of predicting courtroom outcomes based on data patterns with unprecedented accuracy.
Assessing risk of flight, the National Bureau of Economic Research now uses an algorithm leveraging data from hundreds of thousands of NYC cases to recommend whether defendants should be granted bail.
But while AI allows for streamlined governance, the public sector’s power to misuse our data is a valid concern and issues with bias as a result of historical data still remain.
As tons of new information is generated about our every move, how do we keep governments accountable?
Enter the blockchain.
Transparent Governance and Accountability
Without doubt, alongside AI, the government’s greatest disruptor is the newly minted blockchain.
Relying on a decentralized web of nodes, blockchain can securely verify transactions, signatures, and other information. This makes it essentially impossible for hackers, companies, officials, or even governments to falsify information on the blockchain.
See: Q&A: Walmart’s Frank Yiannas on the use of blockchain for food safety
As you’d expect, many government elites are therefore slow to adopt the technology, fearing enforced accountability. But blockchain’s benefits to government may be too great to ignore.
First, blockchain will be a boon for regulatory compliance.
As transactions on a blockchain are irreversible and transparent, uploaded sensor data can’t be corrupted. This means middlemen have no way of falsifying information to shirk regulation, and governments eliminate the need to enforce charges after the fact.
Apply this to carbon pricing, for instance, and emission sensors could fluidly log carbon credits onto a carbon credit blockchain, such as that developed by Ecosphere+. As carbon values are added to the price of everyday products or to corporations’ automated taxes, compliance and transparency would soon be digitally embedded.
Blockchain could also bolster government efforts in cybersecurity. As supercities and nation-states build IoT-connected traffic systems, surveillance networks and sensor-tracked supply chain management, the blockchain is critical in protecting connected devices from cyberattack.
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The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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BusinessWire release | Accenture | Oct 17, 2018 Digital-only banks, fintechs and big tech companies are quietly gaining customers, while incumbents struggle to make strategic investments in their digital future NEW YORK & LONDON & HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--New entrants to the banking market — including challenger banks, non-bank payments institutions and big tech companies — are amassing up to one-third of new revenue, which is challenging the competitiveness of traditional banks, according to new research from Accenture (NYSE:ACN). “As the banking industry experiences radical change, driven by regulation, new entrants and demanding consumers, banks will need to reassess their assets, strengths and capabilities to determine if they are taking their business in the right direction” Accenture analyzed more than 20,000 banking and payments institutions across seven markets to quantify the level of change and disruption in the global banking industry. The study found that the number of banking and payments institutions decreased by nearly 20 percent over a 12-year period — from 24,000 in 2005 to less than 19,300 in 2017. However, nearly one in six (17 percent) current institutions are what Accenture considers new entrants — i.e., companies entering the market after 2005. While few of these new players ...
Read More
Forbes | Michael del Castillo | Oct 18, 2018 The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is launching a portal for engaging with companies using blockchain, artificial intelligence and more. Available today, the new fintech hub, or FinHub for short, is designed to bring the SEC’s existing services to a single access point and provide an easier way for companies to communicate with the public. As startups building with blockchain increasingly come under the SEC’s attention, the new portal has the potential to streamline the process of building compliant platforms prior to launch. The SEC’s FinHub will be led by Valerie A. Szczepanik, senior advisor for digital assets and innovation and associate director in the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance. “We’ve been doing these things for years,” Szczepanik told Forbes. “This is going to bring it all together.” The FinHub will be staffed by representatives from the SEC’s divisions and offices who have expertise and involvement in fintech-related issues. See: Canadian securities regulators provide additional guidance on securities law implications for offerings of tokens In addition to asking questions of the SEC, those who use the site will be able to request meetings. To increase engagement, a binary code “Easter egg” ...
Read More
Gowling WLG | Shaela W. Rae | October 17 2018 Black market. Dark web. Illicit. Underground market. Illegitimate. Illegal. Organized crime. All words used to describe the illegal cannabis industry, until October 17, 2018 that is. Once it is legal to buy, possess or use cannabis for recreational purposes the discussion around the use of cannabis and how to procure it changes from hushed words in a corner to an open conversation in public. But is the public ready to embrace a substance that has been seen as illegitimate and "bad" for so long? If the experience in the US can be relied upon, the answer is "yes". According to investment bank Cowen & Co., the cannabis industry is expected to reach sales of approximately US$75-billion by 2030, up from US$6-billion in 2016, as the drug is more socially accepted. In the US today cannabis is illegal on a federal level as it is classified as a Schedule 1 narcotic, but cannabis is legal in 30 states for medicinal purposes, and in 9 states and Washington, DC, for recreational use for adults over the age of 21. See: Canabis Company True Leaf Raises $14 Million in Cross Border US – ...
Read More
International Monetary Fund | Release | Oct 11, 2018 The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group today launched the Bali Fintech Agenda, a set of 12 policy elements aimed at helping member countries to harness the benefits and opportunities of rapid advances in financial technology that are transforming the provision of banking services, while at the same time managing the inherent risks. The Agenda proposes a framework of high-level issues that countries should consider in their own domestic policy discussions and aims to guide staff from the two institutions in their own work and dialogue with national authorities. The 12 elements (see table) were distilled from members’ own experiences and cover topics relating broadly to enabling fintech; ensuring financial sector resilience; addressing risks; and promoting international cooperation. “There are an estimated 1.7 billion adults in the world without access to financial services,” said IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde. “Fintech can have a major social and economic impact for them and across the membership in general. All countries are trying to reap these benefits, while also mitigating the risks. We need greater international cooperation to achieve that, and to make sure the fintech revolution benefits the many and not ...
Read More
Investment Executive | James Langton | Oct 12, 2018 Money laundering and tax evasion are key concerns Canadian policy-makers initially took a hands-off approach to cryptoassets. Now, in the wake of a bitcoin boom-and-bust and continuing growth in the cryptoassets market, policy-makers are taking a second look at the emerging phenomenon. In 2015, the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce issued one of Canada’s first reports examining the emerging cryptocurrency industry; that report recommends that policy-makers keep an eye on the space. Since then, the cryptoassets market has continued to grow. According to a report from the Bank of Canada (BoC), the global market capitalization for cryptoassets “grew rapidly” in 2017 and the daily transaction volume now is more than 75 times higher than it was in early 2017 – i.e., more than $25 billion a day. At this point, the BoC report states, traditional financial services institutions don’t have much, if any, direct exposure to cryptoassets, but the report cautions that these institutions could become exposed due to their clients’ trading in cryptoassets or through exchange trading in crypto-based derivatives. “Cryptoasset markets are evolving quickly and could have financial stability implications in the future if their size ...
Read More
NCFA Canada | Oct 13, 2018 Ep13-Oct 13: Road to Fintech IPO: Capital Networks, Scalable Solutions, Putting People First About this episode: On this episode, NCFA show host Manseeb Khan sits down with Ali Pourdad the CEO of Progressa who recently closed out an $84 million dollar round. They talk about P2P loans, loan services operating within the blockchain and why being people first business matters. Enjoy! (see Transcript) Host: Manseeb Khan, NCFA, Fintech Fridays show host Guest: ALI POURDAD, Co-founder and CEO, Progressa (LinkedIn) Bio: Ali Pourdad has been CEO of Progressa since its inception in 2013. Under his leadership the Company has raised over $40 million of investor capital and invested over $2.0 million dollars in its proprietary "Powered by Progressa" decision engine for Canadian Enterprise partners looking to enhance collections strategy in a positive way. The company has grown to over 110 employees in Vancouver and Toronto. Ali has decisively positioned Progressa for its next generation of growth by recently executing on several initiatives, including creating one of Canada's most popular Exempt Market Bond Offerings and securing an $11.4 million Series A financing . Prior to co-founding Progressa, Ali worked in both corporate restructuring and audit & assurance, ...
Read More
Beam Platform | Alec Gordon | Aug 24, 2018 THE PROBLEM The tech industry has gotten a rude awakening this year. Following a few high profile instances of data misuse, European Union has struck down the law and put everyone who sells into Europe (or deals with anyone who does) on notice. Since introduction, GDPR was meant to show both corporations and their users that better clarity around data collection/preservation is the necessary step forward, one that will lead to a fairer digital society, and ultimately benefit all those involved. And in order to do that, the companies themselves must take matters into their own hands by building new tools to let data flow back to the user. The customers demand it, and equally deserve to have control over their digital footprint. In the end this is an EU bill with global ramifications, and we should all be paying attention. By now you most of you have gotten dozens of emails on “updates to privacy policy” and other notices of forthcoming compliance. This is a welcome reminder that it is you, the user, who’s the focal point GDPR. After decades of computer and telephone use, the companies with whom we ...
Read More
Competition Bureau | Oct 10, 2018 Speech Remarks by Interim Commissioner of Competition Matthew Boswell Global Series 2018 October 10, 2018 Ottawa, Ontario Thank you. I’m pleased to be here to speak with you today. Thank you Makan, for your thoughts on these important issues. They are particularly relevant to businesses, the legal community, academia and governments around the world and to all of you who are gathered here today. Every day we see the world evolving at a rapid pace, thanks to innovation. Development of new technologies, ways of doing business and the creation of new products have the potential to open up new areas of science, medicine and technology. Small steps lead to bigger steps. And here in Canada, we have to be ready for both the challenges and opportunities that this is bringing to all of us. Let’s understand what we are up against. Every year, innovation in the top industrialized countries is tracked by leading authorities on the subject. And here’s what they report about Canada in 2018. On the plus side, Canada performs better than some others in four big areas: Human Capital and Research, Institutions, Infrastructure, and Market Sophistication. See: Canada’s ‘innovation economy’ has ...
Read More
Crowdfund Insider | Cali Haan | Oct 9, 2018 Vancouver-based cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX has been defending itself in court for the release of $28 million dollars in customer funds frozen by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) since January, the Globe and Mail reports. According to court documents filed by CIBC in the Canadian province of Ontario, the action to freeze the accounts was taken because the bank says, “it was unable to determine who owns the funds,” and would like the court to take possession of the money and distribute it to either QuadrigaCX, their payments processor Custodian Inc, or to the 388 affected Quadriga customers, the Globe and Mail writes. Entrepreneurs in the relatively new crypto sector industries complained for some time about bank non-cooperation. See: International Anti-Money Laundering Standards for Crypto Expected in October The cryptocurrency press in South America has reported on numerous account closures by banks against crypto exchanges on the continent, some of which are now being contested in courts by, among others, exchanges like Walltime in Brazil. Sources within the Toronto crypto entrepreneur scene say they have suffered persistent problems with getting their businesses banked in the city- even at credit unions- and have ...
Read More
Crunchbase News | Alex Wilhelm | October 8, 2018 Meet Nubank, a fintech shop out of Brazil that just raised $180 million from Tencent at a valuation of $4 billion. Forget the fact that the round is half secondary. It’s an enormous transaction, and in more normal times, it would cause a big stir. However, the capital event highlights something notable about Tencent: the China-based company’s investment cadence is staggering. Tencent is disbursing cash at a far faster rate than Alibaba, another Chinese tech shop that isn’t famous for parsimony. Tencent’s Early Christmas Tencent has been on a check-cutting bing recently, getting through eight investing rounds in September. Those ranged from a $1.5 billion deal with Lianjia (real estate services), a $450 million round for MissFresh E-Commerce (mobile grocery sales), to the comparatively staid $90 million Series B for WeShare (fintech something or other). October is looking similarly hot. Tencent is at four deals so far, and the month isn’t even half done. Here’s the list: October 1. Miniso’s 1 billion rmb Series A. October 4. Voyager Innovation’s $175 million private equity round. October 5. Bilibili’s $317.6 million post-IPO equity event. October 8. Nubank’s $180 million Series F (half secondary). Regarding Nubank, TechCrunch’s Jon Shieber has the ...
Read More
BusinessWire release | Accenture | Oct 17, 2018 Digital-only banks, fintechs and big tech companies are quietly gaining customers, while incumbents struggle to make strategic investments in their digital future NEW YORK & LONDON & HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--New entrants to the banking market — including challenger banks, non-bank payments institutions and big tech companies — are amassing up to one-third of new revenue, which is challenging the competitiveness of traditional banks, according to new research from Accenture (NYSE:ACN). “As the banking industry experiences radical change, driven by regulation, new entrants and demanding consumers, banks will need to reassess their assets, strengths and capabilities to determine if they are taking their business in the right direction” Accenture analyzed more than 20,000 banking and payments institutions across seven markets to quantify the level of change and disruption in the global banking industry. The study found that the number of banking and payments institutions decreased by nearly 20 percent over a 12-year period — from 24,000 in 2005 to less than 19,300 in 2017. However, nearly one in six (17 percent) current institutions are what Accenture considers new entrants — i.e., companies entering the market after 2005. While few of these new players ...
Read More
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Forbes | Michael del Castillo | Oct 18, 2018 The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is launching a portal for engaging with companies using blockchain, artificial intelligence and more. Available today, the new fintech hub, or FinHub for short, is designed to bring the SEC’s existing services to a single access point and provide an easier way for companies to communicate with the public. As startups building with blockchain increasingly come under the SEC’s attention, the new portal has the potential to streamline the process of building compliant platforms prior to launch. The SEC’s FinHub will be led by Valerie A. Szczepanik, senior advisor for digital assets and innovation and associate director in the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance. “We’ve been doing these things for years,” Szczepanik told Forbes. “This is going to bring it all together.” The FinHub will be staffed by representatives from the SEC’s divisions and offices who have expertise and involvement in fintech-related issues. See: Canadian securities regulators provide additional guidance on securities law implications for offerings of tokens In addition to asking questions of the SEC, those who use the site will be able to request meetings. To increase engagement, a binary code “Easter egg” ...
Read More
Read More
Gowling WLG | Shaela W. Rae | October 17 2018 Black market. Dark web. Illicit. Underground market. Illegitimate. Illegal. Organized crime. All words used to describe the illegal cannabis industry, until October 17, 2018 that is. Once it is legal to buy, possess or use cannabis for recreational purposes the discussion around the use of cannabis and how to procure it changes from hushed words in a corner to an open conversation in public. But is the public ready to embrace a substance that has been seen as illegitimate and "bad" for so long? If the experience in the US can be relied upon, the answer is "yes". According to investment bank Cowen & Co., the cannabis industry is expected to reach sales of approximately US$75-billion by 2030, up from US$6-billion in 2016, as the drug is more socially accepted. In the US today cannabis is illegal on a federal level as it is classified as a Schedule 1 narcotic, but cannabis is legal in 30 states for medicinal purposes, and in 9 states and Washington, DC, for recreational use for adults over the age of 21. See: Canabis Company True Leaf Raises $14 Million in Cross Border US – ...
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International Monetary Fund | Release | Oct 11, 2018 The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group today launched the Bali Fintech Agenda, a set of 12 policy elements aimed at helping member countries to harness the benefits and opportunities of rapid advances in financial technology that are transforming the provision of banking services, while at the same time managing the inherent risks. The Agenda proposes a framework of high-level issues that countries should consider in their own domestic policy discussions and aims to guide staff from the two institutions in their own work and dialogue with national authorities. The 12 elements (see table) were distilled from members’ own experiences and cover topics relating broadly to enabling fintech; ensuring financial sector resilience; addressing risks; and promoting international cooperation. “There are an estimated 1.7 billion adults in the world without access to financial services,” said IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde. “Fintech can have a major social and economic impact for them and across the membership in general. All countries are trying to reap these benefits, while also mitigating the risks. We need greater international cooperation to achieve that, and to make sure the fintech revolution benefits the many and not ...
Read More
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Investment Executive | James Langton | Oct 12, 2018 Money laundering and tax evasion are key concerns Canadian policy-makers initially took a hands-off approach to cryptoassets. Now, in the wake of a bitcoin boom-and-bust and continuing growth in the cryptoassets market, policy-makers are taking a second look at the emerging phenomenon. In 2015, the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce issued one of Canada’s first reports examining the emerging cryptocurrency industry; that report recommends that policy-makers keep an eye on the space. Since then, the cryptoassets market has continued to grow. According to a report from the Bank of Canada (BoC), the global market capitalization for cryptoassets “grew rapidly” in 2017 and the daily transaction volume now is more than 75 times higher than it was in early 2017 – i.e., more than $25 billion a day. At this point, the BoC report states, traditional financial services institutions don’t have much, if any, direct exposure to cryptoassets, but the report cautions that these institutions could become exposed due to their clients’ trading in cryptoassets or through exchange trading in crypto-based derivatives. “Cryptoasset markets are evolving quickly and could have financial stability implications in the future if their size ...
Read More
Read More
NCFA Canada | Oct 13, 2018 Ep13-Oct 13: Road to Fintech IPO: Capital Networks, Scalable Solutions, Putting People First About this episode: On this episode, NCFA show host Manseeb Khan sits down with Ali Pourdad the CEO of Progressa who recently closed out an $84 million dollar round. They talk about P2P loans, loan services operating within the blockchain and why being people first business matters. Enjoy! (see Transcript) Host: Manseeb Khan, NCFA, Fintech Fridays show host Guest: ALI POURDAD, Co-founder and CEO, Progressa (LinkedIn) Bio: Ali Pourdad has been CEO of Progressa since its inception in 2013. Under his leadership the Company has raised over $40 million of investor capital and invested over $2.0 million dollars in its proprietary "Powered by Progressa" decision engine for Canadian Enterprise partners looking to enhance collections strategy in a positive way. The company has grown to over 110 employees in Vancouver and Toronto. Ali has decisively positioned Progressa for its next generation of growth by recently executing on several initiatives, including creating one of Canada's most popular Exempt Market Bond Offerings and securing an $11.4 million Series A financing . Prior to co-founding Progressa, Ali worked in both corporate restructuring and audit & assurance, ...
Read More
Read More
Beam Platform | Alec Gordon | Aug 24, 2018 THE PROBLEM The tech industry has gotten a rude awakening this year. Following a few high profile instances of data misuse, European Union has struck down the law and put everyone who sells into Europe (or deals with anyone who does) on notice. Since introduction, GDPR was meant to show both corporations and their users that better clarity around data collection/preservation is the necessary step forward, one that will lead to a fairer digital society, and ultimately benefit all those involved. And in order to do that, the companies themselves must take matters into their own hands by building new tools to let data flow back to the user. The customers demand it, and equally deserve to have control over their digital footprint. In the end this is an EU bill with global ramifications, and we should all be paying attention. By now you most of you have gotten dozens of emails on “updates to privacy policy” and other notices of forthcoming compliance. This is a welcome reminder that it is you, the user, who’s the focal point GDPR. After decades of computer and telephone use, the companies with whom we ...
Read More
Read More
Competition Bureau | Oct 10, 2018 Speech Remarks by Interim Commissioner of Competition Matthew Boswell Global Series 2018 October 10, 2018 Ottawa, Ontario Thank you. I’m pleased to be here to speak with you today. Thank you Makan, for your thoughts on these important issues. They are particularly relevant to businesses, the legal community, academia and governments around the world and to all of you who are gathered here today. Every day we see the world evolving at a rapid pace, thanks to innovation. Development of new technologies, ways of doing business and the creation of new products have the potential to open up new areas of science, medicine and technology. Small steps lead to bigger steps. And here in Canada, we have to be ready for both the challenges and opportunities that this is bringing to all of us. Let’s understand what we are up against. Every year, innovation in the top industrialized countries is tracked by leading authorities on the subject. And here’s what they report about Canada in 2018. On the plus side, Canada performs better than some others in four big areas: Human Capital and Research, Institutions, Infrastructure, and Market Sophistication. See: Canada’s ‘innovation economy’ has ...
Read More
Read More
Crowdfund Insider | Cali Haan | Oct 9, 2018 Vancouver-based cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX has been defending itself in court for the release of $28 million dollars in customer funds frozen by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) since January, the Globe and Mail reports. According to court documents filed by CIBC in the Canadian province of Ontario, the action to freeze the accounts was taken because the bank says, “it was unable to determine who owns the funds,” and would like the court to take possession of the money and distribute it to either QuadrigaCX, their payments processor Custodian Inc, or to the 388 affected Quadriga customers, the Globe and Mail writes. Entrepreneurs in the relatively new crypto sector industries complained for some time about bank non-cooperation. See: International Anti-Money Laundering Standards for Crypto Expected in October The cryptocurrency press in South America has reported on numerous account closures by banks against crypto exchanges on the continent, some of which are now being contested in courts by, among others, exchanges like Walltime in Brazil. Sources within the Toronto crypto entrepreneur scene say they have suffered persistent problems with getting their businesses banked in the city- even at credit unions- and have ...
Read More
Read More
Crunchbase News | Alex Wilhelm | October 8, 2018 Meet Nubank, a fintech shop out of Brazil that just raised $180 million from Tencent at a valuation of $4 billion. Forget the fact that the round is half secondary. It’s an enormous transaction, and in more normal times, it would cause a big stir. However, the capital event highlights something notable about Tencent: the China-based company’s investment cadence is staggering. Tencent is disbursing cash at a far faster rate than Alibaba, another Chinese tech shop that isn’t famous for parsimony. Tencent’s Early Christmas Tencent has been on a check-cutting bing recently, getting through eight investing rounds in September. Those ranged from a $1.5 billion deal with Lianjia (real estate services), a $450 million round for MissFresh E-Commerce (mobile grocery sales), to the comparatively staid $90 million Series B for WeShare (fintech something or other). October is looking similarly hot. Tencent is at four deals so far, and the month isn’t even half done. Here’s the list: October 1. Miniso’s 1 billion rmb Series A. October 4. Voyager Innovation’s $175 million private equity round. October 5. Bilibili’s $317.6 million post-IPO equity event. October 8. Nubank’s $180 million Series F (half secondary). Regarding Nubank, TechCrunch’s Jon Shieber has the ...
Read More
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International Anti-Money Laundering Standards for Crypto Expected in October
Cointelegraph | By Ana Alexandre | Sep 21,2018
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) said it is getting closer to the establishment of a global set of anti-money laundering (AML) standards for cryptocurrencies, Financial Times reported September 19.
The FATF is an international organization established in 1989 at the initiative of the G7 in order to develop policies and standards to fight money laundering. The agency’s scope of activities further expanded to combat terrorism financing. The FATF currently comprises 35 member jurisdictions and 2 regional organizations.
The agency’s president Marshall Billingslea reportedly said that he expects the coordination of a series of standards that will close “gaps” in global AML standards at an FATF plenary in October.
See:
-
Canada Seeks to Widen AML Compliance Net
-
Canada Delays Regulation of Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Companies
At that time, the FATF will purportedly discuss which existing standards should be adapted to digital currencies, as well as revise the assessment methods of how countries implement those standards. Billingslea also outlined the importance of developing standards that can be applied in a uniform manner.
According to Billingslea, current AML standards and regimes for cryptocurrencies are “very much a patchwork quilt or spotty process,” which is “creating significant vulnerabilities for both national and international financial systems”. Billingslea, noted that despite the risks related to this kind of assets, digital currency as an asset class presents “a great opportunity.”
In June, Cointelegraph reported that the FATF was planning to start developing binding rules for crypto exchanges later that month. The new rules would be an upgrade to the non-binding resolutions which were approved by the FATF in June 2015, considering whether existing guidelines on AML measures and reporting suspicious trading activity are still appropriate, and if they can be applied to new exchanges.
Continue to the full article --> here
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BusinessWire release | Accenture | Oct 17, 2018 Digital-only banks, fintechs and big tech companies are quietly gaining customers, while incumbents struggle to make strategic investments in their digital future NEW YORK & LONDON & HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--New entrants to the banking market — including challenger banks, non-bank payments institutions and big tech companies — are amassing up to one-third of new revenue, which is challenging the competitiveness of traditional banks, according to new research from Accenture (NYSE:ACN). “As the banking industry experiences radical change, driven by regulation, new entrants and demanding consumers, banks will need to reassess their assets, strengths and capabilities to determine if they are taking their business in the right direction” Accenture analyzed more than 20,000 banking and payments institutions across seven markets to quantify the level of change and disruption in the global banking industry. The study found that the number of banking and payments institutions decreased by nearly 20 percent over a 12-year period — from 24,000 in 2005 to less than 19,300 in 2017. However, nearly one in six (17 percent) current institutions are what Accenture considers new entrants — i.e., companies entering the market after 2005. While few of these new players ...
Read More
Forbes | Michael del Castillo | Oct 18, 2018 The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is launching a portal for engaging with companies using blockchain, artificial intelligence and more. Available today, the new fintech hub, or FinHub for short, is designed to bring the SEC’s existing services to a single access point and provide an easier way for companies to communicate with the public. As startups building with blockchain increasingly come under the SEC’s attention, the new portal has the potential to streamline the process of building compliant platforms prior to launch. The SEC’s FinHub will be led by Valerie A. Szczepanik, senior advisor for digital assets and innovation and associate director in the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance. “We’ve been doing these things for years,” Szczepanik told Forbes. “This is going to bring it all together.” The FinHub will be staffed by representatives from the SEC’s divisions and offices who have expertise and involvement in fintech-related issues. See: Canadian securities regulators provide additional guidance on securities law implications for offerings of tokens In addition to asking questions of the SEC, those who use the site will be able to request meetings. To increase engagement, a binary code “Easter egg” ...
Read More
Gowling WLG | Shaela W. Rae | October 17 2018 Black market. Dark web. Illicit. Underground market. Illegitimate. Illegal. Organized crime. All words used to describe the illegal cannabis industry, until October 17, 2018 that is. Once it is legal to buy, possess or use cannabis for recreational purposes the discussion around the use of cannabis and how to procure it changes from hushed words in a corner to an open conversation in public. But is the public ready to embrace a substance that has been seen as illegitimate and "bad" for so long? If the experience in the US can be relied upon, the answer is "yes". According to investment bank Cowen & Co., the cannabis industry is expected to reach sales of approximately US$75-billion by 2030, up from US$6-billion in 2016, as the drug is more socially accepted. In the US today cannabis is illegal on a federal level as it is classified as a Schedule 1 narcotic, but cannabis is legal in 30 states for medicinal purposes, and in 9 states and Washington, DC, for recreational use for adults over the age of 21. See: Canabis Company True Leaf Raises $14 Million in Cross Border US – ...
Read More
International Monetary Fund | Release | Oct 11, 2018 The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group today launched the Bali Fintech Agenda, a set of 12 policy elements aimed at helping member countries to harness the benefits and opportunities of rapid advances in financial technology that are transforming the provision of banking services, while at the same time managing the inherent risks. The Agenda proposes a framework of high-level issues that countries should consider in their own domestic policy discussions and aims to guide staff from the two institutions in their own work and dialogue with national authorities. The 12 elements (see table) were distilled from members’ own experiences and cover topics relating broadly to enabling fintech; ensuring financial sector resilience; addressing risks; and promoting international cooperation. “There are an estimated 1.7 billion adults in the world without access to financial services,” said IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde. “Fintech can have a major social and economic impact for them and across the membership in general. All countries are trying to reap these benefits, while also mitigating the risks. We need greater international cooperation to achieve that, and to make sure the fintech revolution benefits the many and not ...
Read More
Investment Executive | James Langton | Oct 12, 2018 Money laundering and tax evasion are key concerns Canadian policy-makers initially took a hands-off approach to cryptoassets. Now, in the wake of a bitcoin boom-and-bust and continuing growth in the cryptoassets market, policy-makers are taking a second look at the emerging phenomenon. In 2015, the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce issued one of Canada’s first reports examining the emerging cryptocurrency industry; that report recommends that policy-makers keep an eye on the space. Since then, the cryptoassets market has continued to grow. According to a report from the Bank of Canada (BoC), the global market capitalization for cryptoassets “grew rapidly” in 2017 and the daily transaction volume now is more than 75 times higher than it was in early 2017 – i.e., more than $25 billion a day. At this point, the BoC report states, traditional financial services institutions don’t have much, if any, direct exposure to cryptoassets, but the report cautions that these institutions could become exposed due to their clients’ trading in cryptoassets or through exchange trading in crypto-based derivatives. “Cryptoasset markets are evolving quickly and could have financial stability implications in the future if their size ...
Read More
NCFA Canada | Oct 13, 2018 Ep13-Oct 13: Road to Fintech IPO: Capital Networks, Scalable Solutions, Putting People First About this episode: On this episode, NCFA show host Manseeb Khan sits down with Ali Pourdad the CEO of Progressa who recently closed out an $84 million dollar round. They talk about P2P loans, loan services operating within the blockchain and why being people first business matters. Enjoy! (see Transcript) Host: Manseeb Khan, NCFA, Fintech Fridays show host Guest: ALI POURDAD, Co-founder and CEO, Progressa (LinkedIn) Bio: Ali Pourdad has been CEO of Progressa since its inception in 2013. Under his leadership the Company has raised over $40 million of investor capital and invested over $2.0 million dollars in its proprietary "Powered by Progressa" decision engine for Canadian Enterprise partners looking to enhance collections strategy in a positive way. The company has grown to over 110 employees in Vancouver and Toronto. Ali has decisively positioned Progressa for its next generation of growth by recently executing on several initiatives, including creating one of Canada's most popular Exempt Market Bond Offerings and securing an $11.4 million Series A financing . Prior to co-founding Progressa, Ali worked in both corporate restructuring and audit & assurance, ...
Read More
Beam Platform | Alec Gordon | Aug 24, 2018 THE PROBLEM The tech industry has gotten a rude awakening this year. Following a few high profile instances of data misuse, European Union has struck down the law and put everyone who sells into Europe (or deals with anyone who does) on notice. Since introduction, GDPR was meant to show both corporations and their users that better clarity around data collection/preservation is the necessary step forward, one that will lead to a fairer digital society, and ultimately benefit all those involved. And in order to do that, the companies themselves must take matters into their own hands by building new tools to let data flow back to the user. The customers demand it, and equally deserve to have control over their digital footprint. In the end this is an EU bill with global ramifications, and we should all be paying attention. By now you most of you have gotten dozens of emails on “updates to privacy policy” and other notices of forthcoming compliance. This is a welcome reminder that it is you, the user, who’s the focal point GDPR. After decades of computer and telephone use, the companies with whom we ...
Read More
Competition Bureau | Oct 10, 2018 Speech Remarks by Interim Commissioner of Competition Matthew Boswell Global Series 2018 October 10, 2018 Ottawa, Ontario Thank you. I’m pleased to be here to speak with you today. Thank you Makan, for your thoughts on these important issues. They are particularly relevant to businesses, the legal community, academia and governments around the world and to all of you who are gathered here today. Every day we see the world evolving at a rapid pace, thanks to innovation. Development of new technologies, ways of doing business and the creation of new products have the potential to open up new areas of science, medicine and technology. Small steps lead to bigger steps. And here in Canada, we have to be ready for both the challenges and opportunities that this is bringing to all of us. Let’s understand what we are up against. Every year, innovation in the top industrialized countries is tracked by leading authorities on the subject. And here’s what they report about Canada in 2018. On the plus side, Canada performs better than some others in four big areas: Human Capital and Research, Institutions, Infrastructure, and Market Sophistication. See: Canada’s ‘innovation economy’ has ...
Read More
Crowdfund Insider | Cali Haan | Oct 9, 2018 Vancouver-based cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX has been defending itself in court for the release of $28 million dollars in customer funds frozen by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) since January, the Globe and Mail reports. According to court documents filed by CIBC in the Canadian province of Ontario, the action to freeze the accounts was taken because the bank says, “it was unable to determine who owns the funds,” and would like the court to take possession of the money and distribute it to either QuadrigaCX, their payments processor Custodian Inc, or to the 388 affected Quadriga customers, the Globe and Mail writes. Entrepreneurs in the relatively new crypto sector industries complained for some time about bank non-cooperation. See: International Anti-Money Laundering Standards for Crypto Expected in October The cryptocurrency press in South America has reported on numerous account closures by banks against crypto exchanges on the continent, some of which are now being contested in courts by, among others, exchanges like Walltime in Brazil. Sources within the Toronto crypto entrepreneur scene say they have suffered persistent problems with getting their businesses banked in the city- even at credit unions- and have ...
Read More
Crunchbase News | Alex Wilhelm | October 8, 2018 Meet Nubank, a fintech shop out of Brazil that just raised $180 million from Tencent at a valuation of $4 billion. Forget the fact that the round is half secondary. It’s an enormous transaction, and in more normal times, it would cause a big stir. However, the capital event highlights something notable about Tencent: the China-based company’s investment cadence is staggering. Tencent is disbursing cash at a far faster rate than Alibaba, another Chinese tech shop that isn’t famous for parsimony. Tencent’s Early Christmas Tencent has been on a check-cutting bing recently, getting through eight investing rounds in September. Those ranged from a $1.5 billion deal with Lianjia (real estate services), a $450 million round for MissFresh E-Commerce (mobile grocery sales), to the comparatively staid $90 million Series B for WeShare (fintech something or other). October is looking similarly hot. Tencent is at four deals so far, and the month isn’t even half done. Here’s the list: October 1. Miniso’s 1 billion rmb Series A. October 4. Voyager Innovation’s $175 million private equity round. October 5. Bilibili’s $317.6 million post-IPO equity event. October 8. Nubank’s $180 million Series F (half secondary). Regarding Nubank, TechCrunch’s Jon Shieber has the ...
Read More
BusinessWire release | Accenture | Oct 17, 2018 Digital-only banks, fintechs and big tech companies are quietly gaining customers, while incumbents struggle to make strategic investments in their digital future NEW YORK & LONDON & HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--New entrants to the banking market — including challenger banks, non-bank payments institutions and big tech companies — are amassing up to one-third of new revenue, which is challenging the competitiveness of traditional banks, according to new research from Accenture (NYSE:ACN). “As the banking industry experiences radical change, driven by regulation, new entrants and demanding consumers, banks will need to reassess their assets, strengths and capabilities to determine if they are taking their business in the right direction” Accenture analyzed more than 20,000 banking and payments institutions across seven markets to quantify the level of change and disruption in the global banking industry. The study found that the number of banking and payments institutions decreased by nearly 20 percent over a 12-year period — from 24,000 in 2005 to less than 19,300 in 2017. However, nearly one in six (17 percent) current institutions are what Accenture considers new entrants — i.e., companies entering the market after 2005. While few of these new players ...
Read More
Read More
Forbes | Michael del Castillo | Oct 18, 2018 The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is launching a portal for engaging with companies using blockchain, artificial intelligence and more. Available today, the new fintech hub, or FinHub for short, is designed to bring the SEC’s existing services to a single access point and provide an easier way for companies to communicate with the public. As startups building with blockchain increasingly come under the SEC’s attention, the new portal has the potential to streamline the process of building compliant platforms prior to launch. The SEC’s FinHub will be led by Valerie A. Szczepanik, senior advisor for digital assets and innovation and associate director in the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance. “We’ve been doing these things for years,” Szczepanik told Forbes. “This is going to bring it all together.” The FinHub will be staffed by representatives from the SEC’s divisions and offices who have expertise and involvement in fintech-related issues. See: Canadian securities regulators provide additional guidance on securities law implications for offerings of tokens In addition to asking questions of the SEC, those who use the site will be able to request meetings. To increase engagement, a binary code “Easter egg” ...
Read More
Read More
Gowling WLG | Shaela W. Rae | October 17 2018 Black market. Dark web. Illicit. Underground market. Illegitimate. Illegal. Organized crime. All words used to describe the illegal cannabis industry, until October 17, 2018 that is. Once it is legal to buy, possess or use cannabis for recreational purposes the discussion around the use of cannabis and how to procure it changes from hushed words in a corner to an open conversation in public. But is the public ready to embrace a substance that has been seen as illegitimate and "bad" for so long? If the experience in the US can be relied upon, the answer is "yes". According to investment bank Cowen & Co., the cannabis industry is expected to reach sales of approximately US$75-billion by 2030, up from US$6-billion in 2016, as the drug is more socially accepted. In the US today cannabis is illegal on a federal level as it is classified as a Schedule 1 narcotic, but cannabis is legal in 30 states for medicinal purposes, and in 9 states and Washington, DC, for recreational use for adults over the age of 21. See: Canabis Company True Leaf Raises $14 Million in Cross Border US – ...
Read More
Read More
International Monetary Fund | Release | Oct 11, 2018 The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group today launched the Bali Fintech Agenda, a set of 12 policy elements aimed at helping member countries to harness the benefits and opportunities of rapid advances in financial technology that are transforming the provision of banking services, while at the same time managing the inherent risks. The Agenda proposes a framework of high-level issues that countries should consider in their own domestic policy discussions and aims to guide staff from the two institutions in their own work and dialogue with national authorities. The 12 elements (see table) were distilled from members’ own experiences and cover topics relating broadly to enabling fintech; ensuring financial sector resilience; addressing risks; and promoting international cooperation. “There are an estimated 1.7 billion adults in the world without access to financial services,” said IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde. “Fintech can have a major social and economic impact for them and across the membership in general. All countries are trying to reap these benefits, while also mitigating the risks. We need greater international cooperation to achieve that, and to make sure the fintech revolution benefits the many and not ...
Read More
Read More
Investment Executive | James Langton | Oct 12, 2018 Money laundering and tax evasion are key concerns Canadian policy-makers initially took a hands-off approach to cryptoassets. Now, in the wake of a bitcoin boom-and-bust and continuing growth in the cryptoassets market, policy-makers are taking a second look at the emerging phenomenon. In 2015, the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce issued one of Canada’s first reports examining the emerging cryptocurrency industry; that report recommends that policy-makers keep an eye on the space. Since then, the cryptoassets market has continued to grow. According to a report from the Bank of Canada (BoC), the global market capitalization for cryptoassets “grew rapidly” in 2017 and the daily transaction volume now is more than 75 times higher than it was in early 2017 – i.e., more than $25 billion a day. At this point, the BoC report states, traditional financial services institutions don’t have much, if any, direct exposure to cryptoassets, but the report cautions that these institutions could become exposed due to their clients’ trading in cryptoassets or through exchange trading in crypto-based derivatives. “Cryptoasset markets are evolving quickly and could have financial stability implications in the future if their size ...
Read More
Read More
NCFA Canada | Oct 13, 2018 Ep13-Oct 13: Road to Fintech IPO: Capital Networks, Scalable Solutions, Putting People First About this episode: On this episode, NCFA show host Manseeb Khan sits down with Ali Pourdad the CEO of Progressa who recently closed out an $84 million dollar round. They talk about P2P loans, loan services operating within the blockchain and why being people first business matters. Enjoy! (see Transcript) Host: Manseeb Khan, NCFA, Fintech Fridays show host Guest: ALI POURDAD, Co-founder and CEO, Progressa (LinkedIn) Bio: Ali Pourdad has been CEO of Progressa since its inception in 2013. Under his leadership the Company has raised over $40 million of investor capital and invested over $2.0 million dollars in its proprietary "Powered by Progressa" decision engine for Canadian Enterprise partners looking to enhance collections strategy in a positive way. The company has grown to over 110 employees in Vancouver and Toronto. Ali has decisively positioned Progressa for its next generation of growth by recently executing on several initiatives, including creating one of Canada's most popular Exempt Market Bond Offerings and securing an $11.4 million Series A financing . Prior to co-founding Progressa, Ali worked in both corporate restructuring and audit & assurance, ...
Read More
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Beam Platform | Alec Gordon | Aug 24, 2018 THE PROBLEM The tech industry has gotten a rude awakening this year. Following a few high profile instances of data misuse, European Union has struck down the law and put everyone who sells into Europe (or deals with anyone who does) on notice. Since introduction, GDPR was meant to show both corporations and their users that better clarity around data collection/preservation is the necessary step forward, one that will lead to a fairer digital society, and ultimately benefit all those involved. And in order to do that, the companies themselves must take matters into their own hands by building new tools to let data flow back to the user. The customers demand it, and equally deserve to have control over their digital footprint. In the end this is an EU bill with global ramifications, and we should all be paying attention. By now you most of you have gotten dozens of emails on “updates to privacy policy” and other notices of forthcoming compliance. This is a welcome reminder that it is you, the user, who’s the focal point GDPR. After decades of computer and telephone use, the companies with whom we ...
Read More
Read More
Competition Bureau | Oct 10, 2018 Speech Remarks by Interim Commissioner of Competition Matthew Boswell Global Series 2018 October 10, 2018 Ottawa, Ontario Thank you. I’m pleased to be here to speak with you today. Thank you Makan, for your thoughts on these important issues. They are particularly relevant to businesses, the legal community, academia and governments around the world and to all of you who are gathered here today. Every day we see the world evolving at a rapid pace, thanks to innovation. Development of new technologies, ways of doing business and the creation of new products have the potential to open up new areas of science, medicine and technology. Small steps lead to bigger steps. And here in Canada, we have to be ready for both the challenges and opportunities that this is bringing to all of us. Let’s understand what we are up against. Every year, innovation in the top industrialized countries is tracked by leading authorities on the subject. And here’s what they report about Canada in 2018. On the plus side, Canada performs better than some others in four big areas: Human Capital and Research, Institutions, Infrastructure, and Market Sophistication. See: Canada’s ‘innovation economy’ has ...
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Crowdfund Insider | Cali Haan | Oct 9, 2018 Vancouver-based cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX has been defending itself in court for the release of $28 million dollars in customer funds frozen by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) since January, the Globe and Mail reports. According to court documents filed by CIBC in the Canadian province of Ontario, the action to freeze the accounts was taken because the bank says, “it was unable to determine who owns the funds,” and would like the court to take possession of the money and distribute it to either QuadrigaCX, their payments processor Custodian Inc, or to the 388 affected Quadriga customers, the Globe and Mail writes. Entrepreneurs in the relatively new crypto sector industries complained for some time about bank non-cooperation. See: International Anti-Money Laundering Standards for Crypto Expected in October The cryptocurrency press in South America has reported on numerous account closures by banks against crypto exchanges on the continent, some of which are now being contested in courts by, among others, exchanges like Walltime in Brazil. Sources within the Toronto crypto entrepreneur scene say they have suffered persistent problems with getting their businesses banked in the city- even at credit unions- and have ...
Read More
Read More
Crunchbase News | Alex Wilhelm | October 8, 2018 Meet Nubank, a fintech shop out of Brazil that just raised $180 million from Tencent at a valuation of $4 billion. Forget the fact that the round is half secondary. It’s an enormous transaction, and in more normal times, it would cause a big stir. However, the capital event highlights something notable about Tencent: the China-based company’s investment cadence is staggering. Tencent is disbursing cash at a far faster rate than Alibaba, another Chinese tech shop that isn’t famous for parsimony. Tencent’s Early Christmas Tencent has been on a check-cutting bing recently, getting through eight investing rounds in September. Those ranged from a $1.5 billion deal with Lianjia (real estate services), a $450 million round for MissFresh E-Commerce (mobile grocery sales), to the comparatively staid $90 million Series B for WeShare (fintech something or other). October is looking similarly hot. Tencent is at four deals so far, and the month isn’t even half done. Here’s the list: October 1. Miniso’s 1 billion rmb Series A. October 4. Voyager Innovation’s $175 million private equity round. October 5. Bilibili’s $317.6 million post-IPO equity event. October 8. Nubank’s $180 million Series F (half secondary). Regarding Nubank, TechCrunch’s Jon Shieber has the ...
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United States: Recent Congressional Action Involving Digital Assets And Blockchain Technology
Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP | Scott H. Kimpel | Oct 1, 2018
Interest in the crypto economy continues to grow in Congress. On September 25, 2018, Representative Warren Davidson (R-OH) hosted a roundtable, "Legislating Certainty for Cryptocurrencies," with more than 50 financial institutions and crypto start-ups invited to attend. Additionally, the House Financial Services Committee has scheduled a hearing on financial innovation on September 28, 2018, entitled Examining Opportunities for Financial Markets in the Digital Era.
Last week, Representative Tom Emmer (R-MN), co-chair of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus, announced his intention to introduce three separate pieces of legislation regarding distributed ledger technology. While the future of these measures in Congress is uncertain, they represent a welcome development in lawmakers' understanding of digital assets and related issues.
First, a Resolution Supporting Digital Currencies and Blockchain Technology expresses support for the industry and its development in the United States. The resolution states, among other things, that (1) the United States should prioritize accelerating the development of blockchain technology to support transparency, security and authentication; (2) the United States government should create an environment that enables the American private sector to lead on blockchain innovation; (3) and federal agencies should work toward a coordinated framework to support digital currencies and blockchain technology.
See:
-
Canada Delays Regulation of Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Companies
-
Immersive 2-day Blockchain Developer Training Course (Nov 10-11, Toronto): Decentralized Application Development
The Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act provides that blockchain developers and blockchain service providers who, in the regular course of business do not have control over users' digital currency, do not need to register with the federal government as a money transmitter, money services business or financial institution. Perhaps attempting to address the issue of state regulation of blockchain businesses, the bill would also preempt "any other State or Federal legal designation requiring licensing or registration as a condition to acting as a blockchain developer or provider of a blockchain service, unless the developer or provider has, in the regular course of business, control over digital currency to which a user is entitled." But a subsequent provision provides, somewhat confusingly, that "[n]othing in this section shall be construed to prevent any State from enforcing any State law that is consistent with this section. No cause of action may be brought and no liability may be imposed under any State or local law that is inconsistent with this section."
Finally, the Safe Harbor for Taxpayers with Forked Assets Act attempts to provide a safe harbor for taxpayers with forked digital assets until the Treasury Department or Congress provides further guidance on the federal income tax treatment of receiving forked convertible virtual currency, including rules for calculating and allocating the basis of forked convertible virtual currency, rules for calculating the fair market value of forked convertible virtual currency, and rules for determining the holding period of forked convertible virtual currency.
Continue to the full article --> here
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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BusinessWire release | Accenture | Oct 17, 2018 Digital-only banks, fintechs and big tech companies are quietly gaining customers, while incumbents struggle to make strategic investments in their digital future NEW YORK & LONDON & HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--New entrants to the banking market — including challenger banks, non-bank payments institutions and big tech companies — are amassing up to one-third of new revenue, which is challenging the competitiveness of traditional banks, according to new research from Accenture (NYSE:ACN). “As the banking industry experiences radical change, driven by regulation, new entrants and demanding consumers, banks will need to reassess their assets, strengths and capabilities to determine if they are taking their business in the right direction” Accenture analyzed more than 20,000 banking and payments institutions across seven markets to quantify the level of change and disruption in the global banking industry. The study found that the number of banking and payments institutions decreased by nearly 20 percent over a 12-year period — from 24,000 in 2005 to less than 19,300 in 2017. However, nearly one in six (17 percent) current institutions are what Accenture considers new entrants — i.e., companies entering the market after 2005. While few of these new players ...
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Forbes | Michael del Castillo | Oct 18, 2018 The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is launching a portal for engaging with companies using blockchain, artificial intelligence and more. Available today, the new fintech hub, or FinHub for short, is designed to bring the SEC’s existing services to a single access point and provide an easier way for companies to communicate with the public. As startups building with blockchain increasingly come under the SEC’s attention, the new portal has the potential to streamline the process of building compliant platforms prior to launch. The SEC’s FinHub will be led by Valerie A. Szczepanik, senior advisor for digital assets and innovation and associate director in the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance. “We’ve been doing these things for years,” Szczepanik told Forbes. “This is going to bring it all together.” The FinHub will be staffed by representatives from the SEC’s divisions and offices who have expertise and involvement in fintech-related issues. See: Canadian securities regulators provide additional guidance on securities law implications for offerings of tokens In addition to asking questions of the SEC, those who use the site will be able to request meetings. To increase engagement, a binary code “Easter egg” ...
Read More
Gowling WLG | Shaela W. Rae | October 17 2018 Black market. Dark web. Illicit. Underground market. Illegitimate. Illegal. Organized crime. All words used to describe the illegal cannabis industry, until October 17, 2018 that is. Once it is legal to buy, possess or use cannabis for recreational purposes the discussion around the use of cannabis and how to procure it changes from hushed words in a corner to an open conversation in public. But is the public ready to embrace a substance that has been seen as illegitimate and "bad" for so long? If the experience in the US can be relied upon, the answer is "yes". According to investment bank Cowen & Co., the cannabis industry is expected to reach sales of approximately US$75-billion by 2030, up from US$6-billion in 2016, as the drug is more socially accepted. In the US today cannabis is illegal on a federal level as it is classified as a Schedule 1 narcotic, but cannabis is legal in 30 states for medicinal purposes, and in 9 states and Washington, DC, for recreational use for adults over the age of 21. See: Canabis Company True Leaf Raises $14 Million in Cross Border US – ...
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International Monetary Fund | Release | Oct 11, 2018 The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group today launched the Bali Fintech Agenda, a set of 12 policy elements aimed at helping member countries to harness the benefits and opportunities of rapid advances in financial technology that are transforming the provision of banking services, while at the same time managing the inherent risks. The Agenda proposes a framework of high-level issues that countries should consider in their own domestic policy discussions and aims to guide staff from the two institutions in their own work and dialogue with national authorities. The 12 elements (see table) were distilled from members’ own experiences and cover topics relating broadly to enabling fintech; ensuring financial sector resilience; addressing risks; and promoting international cooperation. “There are an estimated 1.7 billion adults in the world without access to financial services,” said IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde. “Fintech can have a major social and economic impact for them and across the membership in general. All countries are trying to reap these benefits, while also mitigating the risks. We need greater international cooperation to achieve that, and to make sure the fintech revolution benefits the many and not ...
Read More
Investment Executive | James Langton | Oct 12, 2018 Money laundering and tax evasion are key concerns Canadian policy-makers initially took a hands-off approach to cryptoassets. Now, in the wake of a bitcoin boom-and-bust and continuing growth in the cryptoassets market, policy-makers are taking a second look at the emerging phenomenon. In 2015, the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce issued one of Canada’s first reports examining the emerging cryptocurrency industry; that report recommends that policy-makers keep an eye on the space. Since then, the cryptoassets market has continued to grow. According to a report from the Bank of Canada (BoC), the global market capitalization for cryptoassets “grew rapidly” in 2017 and the daily transaction volume now is more than 75 times higher than it was in early 2017 – i.e., more than $25 billion a day. At this point, the BoC report states, traditional financial services institutions don’t have much, if any, direct exposure to cryptoassets, but the report cautions that these institutions could become exposed due to their clients’ trading in cryptoassets or through exchange trading in crypto-based derivatives. “Cryptoasset markets are evolving quickly and could have financial stability implications in the future if their size ...
Read More
NCFA Canada | Oct 13, 2018 Ep13-Oct 13: Road to Fintech IPO: Capital Networks, Scalable Solutions, Putting People First About this episode: On this episode, NCFA show host Manseeb Khan sits down with Ali Pourdad the CEO of Progressa who recently closed out an $84 million dollar round. They talk about P2P loans, loan services operating within the blockchain and why being people first business matters. Enjoy! (see Transcript) Host: Manseeb Khan, NCFA, Fintech Fridays show host Guest: ALI POURDAD, Co-founder and CEO, Progressa (LinkedIn) Bio: Ali Pourdad has been CEO of Progressa since its inception in 2013. Under his leadership the Company has raised over $40 million of investor capital and invested over $2.0 million dollars in its proprietary "Powered by Progressa" decision engine for Canadian Enterprise partners looking to enhance collections strategy in a positive way. The company has grown to over 110 employees in Vancouver and Toronto. Ali has decisively positioned Progressa for its next generation of growth by recently executing on several initiatives, including creating one of Canada's most popular Exempt Market Bond Offerings and securing an $11.4 million Series A financing . Prior to co-founding Progressa, Ali worked in both corporate restructuring and audit & assurance, ...
Read More
Beam Platform | Alec Gordon | Aug 24, 2018 THE PROBLEM The tech industry has gotten a rude awakening this year. Following a few high profile instances of data misuse, European Union has struck down the law and put everyone who sells into Europe (or deals with anyone who does) on notice. Since introduction, GDPR was meant to show both corporations and their users that better clarity around data collection/preservation is the necessary step forward, one that will lead to a fairer digital society, and ultimately benefit all those involved. And in order to do that, the companies themselves must take matters into their own hands by building new tools to let data flow back to the user. The customers demand it, and equally deserve to have control over their digital footprint. In the end this is an EU bill with global ramifications, and we should all be paying attention. By now you most of you have gotten dozens of emails on “updates to privacy policy” and other notices of forthcoming compliance. This is a welcome reminder that it is you, the user, who’s the focal point GDPR. After decades of computer and telephone use, the companies with whom we ...
Read More
Competition Bureau | Oct 10, 2018 Speech Remarks by Interim Commissioner of Competition Matthew Boswell Global Series 2018 October 10, 2018 Ottawa, Ontario Thank you. I’m pleased to be here to speak with you today. Thank you Makan, for your thoughts on these important issues. They are particularly relevant to businesses, the legal community, academia and governments around the world and to all of you who are gathered here today. Every day we see the world evolving at a rapid pace, thanks to innovation. Development of new technologies, ways of doing business and the creation of new products have the potential to open up new areas of science, medicine and technology. Small steps lead to bigger steps. And here in Canada, we have to be ready for both the challenges and opportunities that this is bringing to all of us. Let’s understand what we are up against. Every year, innovation in the top industrialized countries is tracked by leading authorities on the subject. And here’s what they report about Canada in 2018. On the plus side, Canada performs better than some others in four big areas: Human Capital and Research, Institutions, Infrastructure, and Market Sophistication. See: Canada’s ‘innovation economy’ has ...
Read More
Crowdfund Insider | Cali Haan | Oct 9, 2018 Vancouver-based cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX has been defending itself in court for the release of $28 million dollars in customer funds frozen by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) since January, the Globe and Mail reports. According to court documents filed by CIBC in the Canadian province of Ontario, the action to freeze the accounts was taken because the bank says, “it was unable to determine who owns the funds,” and would like the court to take possession of the money and distribute it to either QuadrigaCX, their payments processor Custodian Inc, or to the 388 affected Quadriga customers, the Globe and Mail writes. Entrepreneurs in the relatively new crypto sector industries complained for some time about bank non-cooperation. See: International Anti-Money Laundering Standards for Crypto Expected in October The cryptocurrency press in South America has reported on numerous account closures by banks against crypto exchanges on the continent, some of which are now being contested in courts by, among others, exchanges like Walltime in Brazil. Sources within the Toronto crypto entrepreneur scene say they have suffered persistent problems with getting their businesses banked in the city- even at credit unions- and have ...
Read More
Crunchbase News | Alex Wilhelm | October 8, 2018 Meet Nubank, a fintech shop out of Brazil that just raised $180 million from Tencent at a valuation of $4 billion. Forget the fact that the round is half secondary. It’s an enormous transaction, and in more normal times, it would cause a big stir. However, the capital event highlights something notable about Tencent: the China-based company’s investment cadence is staggering. Tencent is disbursing cash at a far faster rate than Alibaba, another Chinese tech shop that isn’t famous for parsimony. Tencent’s Early Christmas Tencent has been on a check-cutting bing recently, getting through eight investing rounds in September. Those ranged from a $1.5 billion deal with Lianjia (real estate services), a $450 million round for MissFresh E-Commerce (mobile grocery sales), to the comparatively staid $90 million Series B for WeShare (fintech something or other). October is looking similarly hot. Tencent is at four deals so far, and the month isn’t even half done. Here’s the list: October 1. Miniso’s 1 billion rmb Series A. October 4. Voyager Innovation’s $175 million private equity round. October 5. Bilibili’s $317.6 million post-IPO equity event. October 8. Nubank’s $180 million Series F (half secondary). Regarding Nubank, TechCrunch’s Jon Shieber has the ...
Read More
BusinessWire release | Accenture | Oct 17, 2018 Digital-only banks, fintechs and big tech companies are quietly gaining customers, while incumbents struggle to make strategic investments in their digital future NEW YORK & LONDON & HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--New entrants to the banking market — including challenger banks, non-bank payments institutions and big tech companies — are amassing up to one-third of new revenue, which is challenging the competitiveness of traditional banks, according to new research from Accenture (NYSE:ACN). “As the banking industry experiences radical change, driven by regulation, new entrants and demanding consumers, banks will need to reassess their assets, strengths and capabilities to determine if they are taking their business in the right direction” Accenture analyzed more than 20,000 banking and payments institutions across seven markets to quantify the level of change and disruption in the global banking industry. The study found that the number of banking and payments institutions decreased by nearly 20 percent over a 12-year period — from 24,000 in 2005 to less than 19,300 in 2017. However, nearly one in six (17 percent) current institutions are what Accenture considers new entrants — i.e., companies entering the market after 2005. While few of these new players ...
Read More
Read More
Forbes | Michael del Castillo | Oct 18, 2018 The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is launching a portal for engaging with companies using blockchain, artificial intelligence and more. Available today, the new fintech hub, or FinHub for short, is designed to bring the SEC’s existing services to a single access point and provide an easier way for companies to communicate with the public. As startups building with blockchain increasingly come under the SEC’s attention, the new portal has the potential to streamline the process of building compliant platforms prior to launch. The SEC’s FinHub will be led by Valerie A. Szczepanik, senior advisor for digital assets and innovation and associate director in the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance. “We’ve been doing these things for years,” Szczepanik told Forbes. “This is going to bring it all together.” The FinHub will be staffed by representatives from the SEC’s divisions and offices who have expertise and involvement in fintech-related issues. See: Canadian securities regulators provide additional guidance on securities law implications for offerings of tokens In addition to asking questions of the SEC, those who use the site will be able to request meetings. To increase engagement, a binary code “Easter egg” ...
Read More
Read More
Gowling WLG | Shaela W. Rae | October 17 2018 Black market. Dark web. Illicit. Underground market. Illegitimate. Illegal. Organized crime. All words used to describe the illegal cannabis industry, until October 17, 2018 that is. Once it is legal to buy, possess or use cannabis for recreational purposes the discussion around the use of cannabis and how to procure it changes from hushed words in a corner to an open conversation in public. But is the public ready to embrace a substance that has been seen as illegitimate and "bad" for so long? If the experience in the US can be relied upon, the answer is "yes". According to investment bank Cowen & Co., the cannabis industry is expected to reach sales of approximately US$75-billion by 2030, up from US$6-billion in 2016, as the drug is more socially accepted. In the US today cannabis is illegal on a federal level as it is classified as a Schedule 1 narcotic, but cannabis is legal in 30 states for medicinal purposes, and in 9 states and Washington, DC, for recreational use for adults over the age of 21. See: Canabis Company True Leaf Raises $14 Million in Cross Border US – ...
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International Monetary Fund | Release | Oct 11, 2018 The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group today launched the Bali Fintech Agenda, a set of 12 policy elements aimed at helping member countries to harness the benefits and opportunities of rapid advances in financial technology that are transforming the provision of banking services, while at the same time managing the inherent risks. The Agenda proposes a framework of high-level issues that countries should consider in their own domestic policy discussions and aims to guide staff from the two institutions in their own work and dialogue with national authorities. The 12 elements (see table) were distilled from members’ own experiences and cover topics relating broadly to enabling fintech; ensuring financial sector resilience; addressing risks; and promoting international cooperation. “There are an estimated 1.7 billion adults in the world without access to financial services,” said IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde. “Fintech can have a major social and economic impact for them and across the membership in general. All countries are trying to reap these benefits, while also mitigating the risks. We need greater international cooperation to achieve that, and to make sure the fintech revolution benefits the many and not ...
Read More
Read More
Investment Executive | James Langton | Oct 12, 2018 Money laundering and tax evasion are key concerns Canadian policy-makers initially took a hands-off approach to cryptoassets. Now, in the wake of a bitcoin boom-and-bust and continuing growth in the cryptoassets market, policy-makers are taking a second look at the emerging phenomenon. In 2015, the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce issued one of Canada’s first reports examining the emerging cryptocurrency industry; that report recommends that policy-makers keep an eye on the space. Since then, the cryptoassets market has continued to grow. According to a report from the Bank of Canada (BoC), the global market capitalization for cryptoassets “grew rapidly” in 2017 and the daily transaction volume now is more than 75 times higher than it was in early 2017 – i.e., more than $25 billion a day. At this point, the BoC report states, traditional financial services institutions don’t have much, if any, direct exposure to cryptoassets, but the report cautions that these institutions could become exposed due to their clients’ trading in cryptoassets or through exchange trading in crypto-based derivatives. “Cryptoasset markets are evolving quickly and could have financial stability implications in the future if their size ...
Read More
Read More
NCFA Canada | Oct 13, 2018 Ep13-Oct 13: Road to Fintech IPO: Capital Networks, Scalable Solutions, Putting People First About this episode: On this episode, NCFA show host Manseeb Khan sits down with Ali Pourdad the CEO of Progressa who recently closed out an $84 million dollar round. They talk about P2P loans, loan services operating within the blockchain and why being people first business matters. Enjoy! (see Transcript) Host: Manseeb Khan, NCFA, Fintech Fridays show host Guest: ALI POURDAD, Co-founder and CEO, Progressa (LinkedIn) Bio: Ali Pourdad has been CEO of Progressa since its inception in 2013. Under his leadership the Company has raised over $40 million of investor capital and invested over $2.0 million dollars in its proprietary "Powered by Progressa" decision engine for Canadian Enterprise partners looking to enhance collections strategy in a positive way. The company has grown to over 110 employees in Vancouver and Toronto. Ali has decisively positioned Progressa for its next generation of growth by recently executing on several initiatives, including creating one of Canada's most popular Exempt Market Bond Offerings and securing an $11.4 million Series A financing . Prior to co-founding Progressa, Ali worked in both corporate restructuring and audit & assurance, ...
Read More
Read More
Beam Platform | Alec Gordon | Aug 24, 2018 THE PROBLEM The tech industry has gotten a rude awakening this year. Following a few high profile instances of data misuse, European Union has struck down the law and put everyone who sells into Europe (or deals with anyone who does) on notice. Since introduction, GDPR was meant to show both corporations and their users that better clarity around data collection/preservation is the necessary step forward, one that will lead to a fairer digital society, and ultimately benefit all those involved. And in order to do that, the companies themselves must take matters into their own hands by building new tools to let data flow back to the user. The customers demand it, and equally deserve to have control over their digital footprint. In the end this is an EU bill with global ramifications, and we should all be paying attention. By now you most of you have gotten dozens of emails on “updates to privacy policy” and other notices of forthcoming compliance. This is a welcome reminder that it is you, the user, who’s the focal point GDPR. After decades of computer and telephone use, the companies with whom we ...
Read More
Read More
Competition Bureau | Oct 10, 2018 Speech Remarks by Interim Commissioner of Competition Matthew Boswell Global Series 2018 October 10, 2018 Ottawa, Ontario Thank you. I’m pleased to be here to speak with you today. Thank you Makan, for your thoughts on these important issues. They are particularly relevant to businesses, the legal community, academia and governments around the world and to all of you who are gathered here today. Every day we see the world evolving at a rapid pace, thanks to innovation. Development of new technologies, ways of doing business and the creation of new products have the potential to open up new areas of science, medicine and technology. Small steps lead to bigger steps. And here in Canada, we have to be ready for both the challenges and opportunities that this is bringing to all of us. Let’s understand what we are up against. Every year, innovation in the top industrialized countries is tracked by leading authorities on the subject. And here’s what they report about Canada in 2018. On the plus side, Canada performs better than some others in four big areas: Human Capital and Research, Institutions, Infrastructure, and Market Sophistication. See: Canada’s ‘innovation economy’ has ...
Read More
Read More
Crowdfund Insider | Cali Haan | Oct 9, 2018 Vancouver-based cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX has been defending itself in court for the release of $28 million dollars in customer funds frozen by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) since January, the Globe and Mail reports. According to court documents filed by CIBC in the Canadian province of Ontario, the action to freeze the accounts was taken because the bank says, “it was unable to determine who owns the funds,” and would like the court to take possession of the money and distribute it to either QuadrigaCX, their payments processor Custodian Inc, or to the 388 affected Quadriga customers, the Globe and Mail writes. Entrepreneurs in the relatively new crypto sector industries complained for some time about bank non-cooperation. See: International Anti-Money Laundering Standards for Crypto Expected in October The cryptocurrency press in South America has reported on numerous account closures by banks against crypto exchanges on the continent, some of which are now being contested in courts by, among others, exchanges like Walltime in Brazil. Sources within the Toronto crypto entrepreneur scene say they have suffered persistent problems with getting their businesses banked in the city- even at credit unions- and have ...
Read More
Read More
Crunchbase News | Alex Wilhelm | October 8, 2018 Meet Nubank, a fintech shop out of Brazil that just raised $180 million from Tencent at a valuation of $4 billion. Forget the fact that the round is half secondary. It’s an enormous transaction, and in more normal times, it would cause a big stir. However, the capital event highlights something notable about Tencent: the China-based company’s investment cadence is staggering. Tencent is disbursing cash at a far faster rate than Alibaba, another Chinese tech shop that isn’t famous for parsimony. Tencent’s Early Christmas Tencent has been on a check-cutting bing recently, getting through eight investing rounds in September. Those ranged from a $1.5 billion deal with Lianjia (real estate services), a $450 million round for MissFresh E-Commerce (mobile grocery sales), to the comparatively staid $90 million Series B for WeShare (fintech something or other). October is looking similarly hot. Tencent is at four deals so far, and the month isn’t even half done. Here’s the list: October 1. Miniso’s 1 billion rmb Series A. October 4. Voyager Innovation’s $175 million private equity round. October 5. Bilibili’s $317.6 million post-IPO equity event. October 8. Nubank’s $180 million Series F (half secondary). Regarding Nubank, TechCrunch’s Jon Shieber has the ...
Read More
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