Paul Schulte, Advisor, Banking and Financial Services
August 22nd, 2019
Paul Schulte is the Founder and Managing Editor of Shulte Research based in Singapore. Paul's roles[...]
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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Wealthsimple | Press Release | Jan 21, 2020 Wealthsimple Cash offers 2.4% interest rate and lets Canadians save and spend through a mobile app and metal card TORONTO, Jan. 21, 2020 /CNW/ - Wealthsimple has launched its first hybrid saving and spending product: Wealthsimple Cash. The new account offers users the ability to save and spend with one of Canada's highest non-promotional interest rates of 2.4% - in addition to a host of features that help people earn more on every dollar in their Cash account. Wealthsimple Cash combines a saving and spending account to give Canadians the power to have both an account that allows for everyday purchases while also providing a safe place to grow their money. Cash clients will benefit from no monthly account fees, no low balance fees, no foreign transaction fees worldwide, and ATM fee reimbursements - all through a sleek, metal card designed to make spending responsibly easy. "Canadians are used to the status quo when it comes to everyday banking - multiple accounts, high fees and low interest," said Michael Katchen, CEO and co-founder, Wealthsimple. "With Wealthsimple Cash, users can enjoy the power of a high interest savings account for all of their day-to-day spending needs ...
Read More
Investment Executive | James Langton | Jan 21, 2020 Grant Vingoe will take over as acting chair following Jensen’s departure on April 15 Maureen Jensen, the head of Canada’s largest securities regulator, is stepping down as chair and CEO of the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) 10 months early. The OSC announced that Jensen will leave the helm of the commission on April 15. She has headed the OSC since 2016, and was reappointed to a second term that began in 2018 and was to run until February 2021. OSC vice chair Grant Vingoe will take over as acting chair in April. Prior to becoming head of the OSC and its first female chair, Jensen was executive director and chief administrative officer of the commission from 2011 to 2016. “It has been an honour to serve Ontario investors and market participants,” Jensen said in a statement. “These past nine years have been the most meaningful in my career. I have enjoyed every moment working alongside my respected colleagues and leadership team, and contributing to Ontario’s vibrant, healthy and internationally recognized capital markets.” As head of the OSC, Jensen championed improved retail investor protection. That effort culminated most recently with the adoption ...
Read More
McKinsey & Company | By Martin Dewhurst and Paul Willmott | Sep 2014 As artificial intelligence takes hold, what will it take to be an effective executive? What would it take for algorithms to take over the C-suite? And what will be senior leaders’ most important contributions if they do? Our answers to these admittedly speculative questions rest on our work with senior leaders in a range of industries, particularly those on the vanguard of the big data and advanced-analytics revolution. We have also worked extensively alongside executives who have been experimenting most actively with opening up their companies and decision-making processes through crowdsourcing and social platforms within and across organizational boundaries. See: The Enterprise Automation Imperative—Why Modern Societies Will Need All the Productivity They Can Get Our argument is simple: the advances of brilliant machines will astound us, but they will transform the lives of senior executives only if managerial advances enable them to. There’s still a great deal of work to be done to create data sets worthy of the most intelligent machines and their burgeoning decision-making potential. On top of that, there’s a need for senior leaders to “let go” in ways that run counter to a ...
Read More
FT Partners | Jan 2020 Executive Summary: The banking sector is experiencing a major shift globally, as Challenger Banks are becoming increasingly formidable competitors to traditional banks and have begun to capture significant market share. Furthermore, the lines between banks and other consumer financial services providers are blurring, with several alternative lenders and robo-advisors beginning to offer banking products to their customers. E-commerce / internet giants are also jumping into the fray with Google and Amazon, among others, beginning to offer banking products. In response to the emergence of Challenger Banks, a number of incumbent banks have launched their own FinTech brands, and traditional financial institutions will likely turn to FinTech solution providers in order to defend their turfs. Download this Jan 2020 FT Partners Fintech research (216 page PDF) -> Now 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 ...
Read More
South China Morning Post | Enoch Yiu | Jan 13, 2020 Hong Kong residents can expect to benefit from cheaper and better banking services with the launch of more virtual banks this year, according to high-profile speakers at the Asian Financial Forum. Their comments came as it was revealed the Hong Kong Monetary Authority has hit an important milestone in its efforts to promote financial technology (fintech). Half the population of the city has now signed up to its Faster Payment System, which enables the free transfer of money between bank accounts via mobile phone. The development shows Hong Kong is moving quickly into a new era of branchless banking, a shift that brings up challenges for traditional lenders which must innovate to cope with the competition, said officials at the annual conference held by the Hong Kong government. “The Faster Payment System is an important move for the city to develop its fintech. The system has been very popular with the Hong Kong public,” said James Lau, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury during a panel discussion at the forum on Monday. See: Banks have lost a quarter of the payments franchise to new players Hong Kong being ...
Read More
Reuters | Julie Zhu, Kane Wu, Zhang Yan | Jan 17, 2020 HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) - Ant Financial [ANTFIN.UL] shares are being offered privately at levels which value the Chinese financial giant at $200 billion, two people with knowledge of the discussions said, lifting it up the ranks of the most valuable unlisted companies. Alibaba affiliate Ant, which had an implied valuation of $150 billion during a 2018 fundraising, is preparing to step up plans for eventually going public in Hong Kong and mainland China, three other sources told Reuters. See: Exclusive: Ant Financial shifts focus from finance to tech services: sources Speculation has grown that Ant, the world’s largest so-called “unicorn” — a newly-formed unlisted tech firm valued at $1 billion or more — is working toward an IPO this year. Its advisers have recently approached potential buyers of the unlisted shares, the first two people said, as Ant seeks to tidy up its shareholder base ahead of any listing. An Ant Financial spokesman said the company does not have a plan or timetable for an intial public offering (IPO). Small holdings of Ant shares were traded in the secondary market at a $200 billion valuation late last year, another ...
Read More
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP | Stephen J. Redican, Robert Dawkins, Ross McGowan and Alexandra Nicol | Jan 9, 2020 The Canadian financial services industry is at the threshold of change. Regulatory overhaul, the ubiquity of online services, and technological innovation and disruption will affect all players—from banks to FinTech start-ups. Open banking will introduce new opportunities and business models for the financial services industry and new services from FinTech entrants to the market—but these opportunities come with unprecedented risks and operational requirements for a banking system that prides itself on stability. Given Canada's unique financial system and constitutional structure, the implementation of open banking won't look the same as it has in the U.K., the EU or Australia, where its introduction is already underway. See: Why Canada must be open to open banking We spoke with a diverse group of leaders from across the Canadian financial services industry to understand open banking's current and emerging issues: What do you see changing? How will your organizations fit into the new landscape? What might a made-in-Canada model of open banking look like for consumers and industry? Roundtable Participants Anne Butler Chief Legal Officer and Head of Policy and Research, Payments Canada "If ...
Read More
CSA | Jan 16, 2020 Montreal - The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) today published Staff Notice 21-327 Guidance on the Application of Securities Legislation to Entities Facilitating the Trading of Crypto Assets, to help these entities to determine situations where securities legislation may or may not apply. “The evolving landscape of the industry prompts us to clarify our regulatory framework so as to better support fintech businesses seeking to offer innovative products, services and applications in Canada,” said Louis Morisset, CSA Chair and President and CEO of the Autorité des marchés financiers. “As we continue to consider the comments and responses to the consultation we launched last year, the staff notice published today will help platform operators to determine whether their activities are subject to securities legislation.” The notice describes situations where securities legislation will and will not apply. For example, securities legislation may apply to platforms that facilitate the buying and selling of crypto assets that are commodities, because the user’s contractual right to the crypto asset may itself constitute a derivative, a security or both. The relevant determination will depend on the facts and circumstances, including the obligations and intention to provide immediate delivery of the crypto asset. The ...
Read More
Vox Recode | Shirin Ghaffary | Jan 7, 2020 Facebook’s new rules will still allow controversial fake videos like the one of Nancy Pelosi that made her appear to be drunk. Facebook announced late Monday that it would ban “deepfakes,” which are AI-manipulated videos that distort reality, often simulating real people in fake situations. The social media giant announced the changes in a company executive blog post, saying it will remove deepfakes and other types of heavily manipulated media from its platform. Specifically, the company laid out two main criteria for removing content under the new rules. The first is that the company will remove content posted on Facebook if has been edited in ways that would “likely mislead someone into thinking a subject of the video said words that they did not actually say,” according to the post written by Monika Bickert, Facebook’s vice president of global policy management. Secondly, the platform will ban media if it’s the product of AI or machine learning that “merges, replaces, or superimposes content onto a video, making it appear to be authentic.” Facebook came under fire last year for allowing a manipulated video of Speaker Nancy Pelosi that made it appear as ...
Read More
CNBC | Hugh Son | Jan 13, 2020 Key Points When Goldman Sachs released a long-awaited app for customers of its Marcus consumer bank last week, it did so with little fanfare or hype. But the app will one day serve as the bank’s storefront and one-stop shop for an array of digital banking services, according to Adam Dell, a Goldman Sachs partner and head of product at Marcus. “There are two kinds of incumbent banks,” Dell told the audience at a financial conference in June. “There are banks that are screwed, and there are banks that don’t know they’re screwed.” When Goldman Sachs released a long-awaited app for customers of its Marcus consumer bank last week, it did so with little fanfare or hype. Unlike the intense attention on its last retail product, the Apple Card, the launch of the bank’s Marcus app was heralded by little more than a smattering of user reviews. See: JPMorgan has a plan to help Amazon and Airbnb look more like banks But the app may prove to be far more important to Goldman than its credit card partnership with Apple. That’s because the portal, which today lets customers check balances and set ...
Read More
Wealthsimple | Press Release | Jan 21, 2020 Wealthsimple Cash offers 2.4% interest rate and lets Canadians save and spend through a mobile app and metal card TORONTO, Jan. 21, 2020 /CNW/ - Wealthsimple has launched its first hybrid saving and spending product: Wealthsimple Cash. The new account offers users the ability to save and spend with one of Canada's highest non-promotional interest rates of 2.4% - in addition to a host of features that help people earn more on every dollar in their Cash account. Wealthsimple Cash combines a saving and spending account to give Canadians the power to have both an account that allows for everyday purchases while also providing a safe place to grow their money. Cash clients will benefit from no monthly account fees, no low balance fees, no foreign transaction fees worldwide, and ATM fee reimbursements - all through a sleek, metal card designed to make spending responsibly easy. "Canadians are used to the status quo when it comes to everyday banking - multiple accounts, high fees and low interest," said Michael Katchen, CEO and co-founder, Wealthsimple. "With Wealthsimple Cash, users can enjoy the power of a high interest savings account for all of their day-to-day spending needs ...
Read More
Read More
Investment Executive | James Langton | Jan 21, 2020 Grant Vingoe will take over as acting chair following Jensen’s departure on April 15 Maureen Jensen, the head of Canada’s largest securities regulator, is stepping down as chair and CEO of the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) 10 months early. The OSC announced that Jensen will leave the helm of the commission on April 15. She has headed the OSC since 2016, and was reappointed to a second term that began in 2018 and was to run until February 2021. OSC vice chair Grant Vingoe will take over as acting chair in April. Prior to becoming head of the OSC and its first female chair, Jensen was executive director and chief administrative officer of the commission from 2011 to 2016. “It has been an honour to serve Ontario investors and market participants,” Jensen said in a statement. “These past nine years have been the most meaningful in my career. I have enjoyed every moment working alongside my respected colleagues and leadership team, and contributing to Ontario’s vibrant, healthy and internationally recognized capital markets.” As head of the OSC, Jensen championed improved retail investor protection. That effort culminated most recently with the adoption ...
Read More
Read More
McKinsey & Company | By Martin Dewhurst and Paul Willmott | Sep 2014 As artificial intelligence takes hold, what will it take to be an effective executive? What would it take for algorithms to take over the C-suite? And what will be senior leaders’ most important contributions if they do? Our answers to these admittedly speculative questions rest on our work with senior leaders in a range of industries, particularly those on the vanguard of the big data and advanced-analytics revolution. We have also worked extensively alongside executives who have been experimenting most actively with opening up their companies and decision-making processes through crowdsourcing and social platforms within and across organizational boundaries. See: The Enterprise Automation Imperative—Why Modern Societies Will Need All the Productivity They Can Get Our argument is simple: the advances of brilliant machines will astound us, but they will transform the lives of senior executives only if managerial advances enable them to. There’s still a great deal of work to be done to create data sets worthy of the most intelligent machines and their burgeoning decision-making potential. On top of that, there’s a need for senior leaders to “let go” in ways that run counter to a ...
Read More
Read More
FT Partners | Jan 2020 Executive Summary: The banking sector is experiencing a major shift globally, as Challenger Banks are becoming increasingly formidable competitors to traditional banks and have begun to capture significant market share. Furthermore, the lines between banks and other consumer financial services providers are blurring, with several alternative lenders and robo-advisors beginning to offer banking products to their customers. E-commerce / internet giants are also jumping into the fray with Google and Amazon, among others, beginning to offer banking products. In response to the emergence of Challenger Banks, a number of incumbent banks have launched their own FinTech brands, and traditional financial institutions will likely turn to FinTech solution providers in order to defend their turfs. Download this Jan 2020 FT Partners Fintech research (216 page PDF) -> Now 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 ...
Read More
Read More
South China Morning Post | Enoch Yiu | Jan 13, 2020 Hong Kong residents can expect to benefit from cheaper and better banking services with the launch of more virtual banks this year, according to high-profile speakers at the Asian Financial Forum. Their comments came as it was revealed the Hong Kong Monetary Authority has hit an important milestone in its efforts to promote financial technology (fintech). Half the population of the city has now signed up to its Faster Payment System, which enables the free transfer of money between bank accounts via mobile phone. The development shows Hong Kong is moving quickly into a new era of branchless banking, a shift that brings up challenges for traditional lenders which must innovate to cope with the competition, said officials at the annual conference held by the Hong Kong government. “The Faster Payment System is an important move for the city to develop its fintech. The system has been very popular with the Hong Kong public,” said James Lau, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury during a panel discussion at the forum on Monday. See: Banks have lost a quarter of the payments franchise to new players Hong Kong being ...
Read More
Read More
Reuters | Julie Zhu, Kane Wu, Zhang Yan | Jan 17, 2020 HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) - Ant Financial [ANTFIN.UL] shares are being offered privately at levels which value the Chinese financial giant at $200 billion, two people with knowledge of the discussions said, lifting it up the ranks of the most valuable unlisted companies. Alibaba affiliate Ant, which had an implied valuation of $150 billion during a 2018 fundraising, is preparing to step up plans for eventually going public in Hong Kong and mainland China, three other sources told Reuters. See: Exclusive: Ant Financial shifts focus from finance to tech services: sources Speculation has grown that Ant, the world’s largest so-called “unicorn” — a newly-formed unlisted tech firm valued at $1 billion or more — is working toward an IPO this year. Its advisers have recently approached potential buyers of the unlisted shares, the first two people said, as Ant seeks to tidy up its shareholder base ahead of any listing. An Ant Financial spokesman said the company does not have a plan or timetable for an intial public offering (IPO). Small holdings of Ant shares were traded in the secondary market at a $200 billion valuation late last year, another ...
Read More
Read More
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP | Stephen J. Redican, Robert Dawkins, Ross McGowan and Alexandra Nicol | Jan 9, 2020 The Canadian financial services industry is at the threshold of change. Regulatory overhaul, the ubiquity of online services, and technological innovation and disruption will affect all players—from banks to FinTech start-ups. Open banking will introduce new opportunities and business models for the financial services industry and new services from FinTech entrants to the market—but these opportunities come with unprecedented risks and operational requirements for a banking system that prides itself on stability. Given Canada's unique financial system and constitutional structure, the implementation of open banking won't look the same as it has in the U.K., the EU or Australia, where its introduction is already underway. See: Why Canada must be open to open banking We spoke with a diverse group of leaders from across the Canadian financial services industry to understand open banking's current and emerging issues: What do you see changing? How will your organizations fit into the new landscape? What might a made-in-Canada model of open banking look like for consumers and industry? Roundtable Participants Anne Butler Chief Legal Officer and Head of Policy and Research, Payments Canada "If ...
Read More
Read More
CSA | Jan 16, 2020 Montreal - The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) today published Staff Notice 21-327 Guidance on the Application of Securities Legislation to Entities Facilitating the Trading of Crypto Assets, to help these entities to determine situations where securities legislation may or may not apply. “The evolving landscape of the industry prompts us to clarify our regulatory framework so as to better support fintech businesses seeking to offer innovative products, services and applications in Canada,” said Louis Morisset, CSA Chair and President and CEO of the Autorité des marchés financiers. “As we continue to consider the comments and responses to the consultation we launched last year, the staff notice published today will help platform operators to determine whether their activities are subject to securities legislation.” The notice describes situations where securities legislation will and will not apply. For example, securities legislation may apply to platforms that facilitate the buying and selling of crypto assets that are commodities, because the user’s contractual right to the crypto asset may itself constitute a derivative, a security or both. The relevant determination will depend on the facts and circumstances, including the obligations and intention to provide immediate delivery of the crypto asset. The ...
Read More
Read More
Vox Recode | Shirin Ghaffary | Jan 7, 2020 Facebook’s new rules will still allow controversial fake videos like the one of Nancy Pelosi that made her appear to be drunk. Facebook announced late Monday that it would ban “deepfakes,” which are AI-manipulated videos that distort reality, often simulating real people in fake situations. The social media giant announced the changes in a company executive blog post, saying it will remove deepfakes and other types of heavily manipulated media from its platform. Specifically, the company laid out two main criteria for removing content under the new rules. The first is that the company will remove content posted on Facebook if has been edited in ways that would “likely mislead someone into thinking a subject of the video said words that they did not actually say,” according to the post written by Monika Bickert, Facebook’s vice president of global policy management. Secondly, the platform will ban media if it’s the product of AI or machine learning that “merges, replaces, or superimposes content onto a video, making it appear to be authentic.” Facebook came under fire last year for allowing a manipulated video of Speaker Nancy Pelosi that made it appear as ...
Read More
Read More
CNBC | Hugh Son | Jan 13, 2020 Key Points When Goldman Sachs released a long-awaited app for customers of its Marcus consumer bank last week, it did so with little fanfare or hype. But the app will one day serve as the bank’s storefront and one-stop shop for an array of digital banking services, according to Adam Dell, a Goldman Sachs partner and head of product at Marcus. “There are two kinds of incumbent banks,” Dell told the audience at a financial conference in June. “There are banks that are screwed, and there are banks that don’t know they’re screwed.” When Goldman Sachs released a long-awaited app for customers of its Marcus consumer bank last week, it did so with little fanfare or hype. Unlike the intense attention on its last retail product, the Apple Card, the launch of the bank’s Marcus app was heralded by little more than a smattering of user reviews. See: JPMorgan has a plan to help Amazon and Airbnb look more like banks But the app may prove to be far more important to Goldman than its credit card partnership with Apple. That’s because the portal, which today lets customers check balances and set ...
Read More
Read More
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