The European Union Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union, Mairead McGuinness, visited the United States in October to discuss the EU-US Cooperation on Digital and Sustainable Finance. This visit came af
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Following months of consultations, discussions and proposals, the final version of the proposed Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (“MiCA”) was approved by the European Council on the 5th of October 2022, confirmed by the Council’s Permanen
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According to a South Korean news report, the South Korean Central Bank (the “Bank”) indicated that Initial Coin Offerings (“ICOs”) will be allowed under the European Union (“EU”) Digital Assets Framework Act, of which the proposed Mark
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On the 24th of September 2020, the European Commission adopted a Digital Finance Package, which includes a digital finance strategy, together with three legislative proposals on Digital Operational Resilience Act (“DORA”), Markets in Crypto-As
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The financial services sector is an ever-evolving field which will continue to grow and advance. This is understood by the European Union (“the EU”) and in 2020, the European Commission issued the Proposal for a Regulation on Markets in Crypto
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In 2019 the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”) extended its anti-money laundering and counter- financing of terrorism (“AML/CFT”) measures’ oversight to also cover Virtual Assets (“VAs”) and Virtual Assets Service Providers (“VAS
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On the 30th June 2022, European Union (“EU”) officials agreed on a ‘balanced deal’ making the EU the first continent to provisionally regulate crypto-assets through this landmark law known as the Markets in Crypto-Assets (“MiCA”). The
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By the decision of the South Korean courts, crypto holdings are now to be included within the debtor’s list of assets in relation to bankruptcy proceedings. This happened after a legal precedent was set in November 2021, which recognised that an
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A crypto fund can be defined as a collective investment scheme managing a portfolio consisting mainly of cryptocurrencies. These types of funds are on the rise, mainly due to the rapid growth in value of several cryptocurrencies. The development o
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Being at the forefront in regulating the cryptocurrency sector, Malta has implemented several regulations which provide a regulatory framework for service providers to operate, while also ensuring that investors are protected. In this article we s
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On the 28th of October 2021, the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”) published a document to update and expand its guidelines intended to help national authorities to further understand and regulate Virtual Asset (“VA”) activities and Vir
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What are Sports Tokens? The ever-expanding world of cryptocurrency has recently taken its turn to enter into the popular and lucrative world of sport. News recently struck that a transfer of the highly renowned and talented football player Lionel
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On the 24th September of 2021, China’s central bank and its National Development and Reform Commission announced that all crypto-currency transactions are to be considered illegal. Moreover, companies providing cryptocurrency trading services to
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In a radical and unprecedented move by the president of El Salvador, traditional coins and banknotes are now co-existing alongside with cryptocurrencies in the Central America’s country of El Salvador. The President, Nayib Bukele stated that usi
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The European Central Bank (“ECB”) has announced that starting from July 2021 it will be launching a digital euro project. The project is still in its infancy, and its scope covers citizens within the euro area and having the objective to maint
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Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing (ML/FT) pose a serious threat to the integrity of the economy and financial system of the European Union (“EU”) and the security of its citizens. Thus, in the latest efforts to tighten the regulations o
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The scope of the Virtual Financial Assets Act, Chapter 590 of the Laws of Malta (“VFA Act”), is largely aligned with the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on Markets in Crypto-Assets (“MiCA Regulation”), the latter a
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On 24th September 2020, a new extensive Digital Finance Package was adopted by the European Commission. This package aims to improve the competitiveness of Europe’s Fintech sector while mitigating risks and ensuring the financial stability of th
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The Malta Financial Services Authority (the “MFSA”) has recently amended their Virtual Financial Assets (the “VFA”) Frequently Asked Questions (“FAQs”) adding FAQs in section 5 and a whole new section 10. The amendments supplement the
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The following is the second part of an article which provides an overview of the major changes brought forward by the 5AMLD. E-money and prepaid cards There is now increased transparency regarding e-money products by reducing the threshold amounts
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A Review of the EU Directive 2018/843 Directive (EU) 2018/843 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 amending Directive 2015/849 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or ter
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The Malta Financial Services Authority (“MFSA”) has received Letters of Intent from 34 prospective Virtual Financial Asset (“VFA”) Service Providers, 21 of which pertain to crypto-asset exchanges. These were operating under the tra
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The UK Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) has recently published its ‘Guidance on Cryptoassets – Feedback and Final Guidance to Consultation Paper CP 19/3 (the “Guidance”). The Policy Statement followed the ‘Guid
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On the 25th February 2019, the Malta Financial Services Authority (the “MFSA”) published the much-awaited Chapter 3 of the Virtual Financial Assets Rulebook (the “VFA Rulebook”). This Chapter is applicable to Virtual Financial Assets Servi
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The European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA”) has recently published a document containing a list of thresholds below which an offer of securities would not need a prospectus. This list aims to create transparency around the different
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The Malta Financial Services Authority (“MFSA”) has published a Consultation Document on its FinTech strategy (“Consultation Document”), with the aim of adopting a strategy where the MFSA focuses its efforts towards supporting such industr
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