The series of antitrust class action lawsuits first brought by U.S. merchants against Visa and Mastercard in 2006 continued its winding path toward closure as the parties announced in March 2024 that they had reached a...more
Implementation of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA)[1] is gathering momentum. Most notably, as of the new year the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is accepting reports of...more
Bank partnerships are a critical component of the U.S. fintech ecosystem and infrastructure.
The agreements that govern bank-fintech partnerships are nevertheless frequently overlooked simply as a legal formality—a...more
5/22/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Banks ,
Compliance ,
Due Diligence ,
FinTech ,
Governance Standards ,
Infrastructure ,
Marketing ,
Partnership Agreements ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Technology Sector
While ransomware attacks usually grab the headlines, business email compromise (BEC) attacks continue to cause massive financial losses for businesses. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), reported BEC losses in...more
2/27/2023
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Banking Sector ,
BSA/AML ,
Business E-Mail Compromise (BEC) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Data Breach ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Money Laundering ,
Popular ,
Uniform Commercial Code (UCC)
The shifts in customer behavior driven by the global COVID pandemic were a boon for digital payments – consumer adoption in the U.S. reached 82% in 2021, up from 78% in 2020 and 72% in 2016. However, the industry "sector"...more
As described in DWT's October 2021 post, the Corporate Transparency Act ("CTA"), enacted as part of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020, establishes beneficial ownership reporting requirements for a broad range of entities...more
With Real-Time Payments from The Clearing House rapidly gaining traction among banks and FedNow set to launch next July, one might believe that adoption of instant payments among network participants and users will be smooth...more
In a purported effort to close supposed loopholes that allow illicit actors to use corporate structures such as shell companies to hide their identities and launder their ill-gotten gains in or through the United States, the...more
The U.S. Treasury Department's (Treasury) September 16, 2022, release of the "Action Plan to Address Illicit Financing Risks of Digital Assets" was published in response to an Executive Order, "Ensuring Responsible...more
Following the White House's Digital Assets Executive Order from March 2022 (summarized here), our September 2022 update provides an in-depth look at select follow-up reports issued by the U.S. Department of Justice and the...more
GLI – FinTech 2022 is a U.K.-based online guide to key FinTech developments across the globe. Each chapter covers approaches and developments, FinTech offerings, related technology, regulatory bodies, key regulations and...more
On April 6, 2022, Ranking Member of the Senate Banking Committee Senator Toomey (R-PA) released the Stablecoin Trust Act of 2022 (Draft Bill), marking a milestone in his continued effort to provide clarity on a regulatory...more
Key developments in the United States over the past several months have kicked the digital currency transformation discussion into high gear. After the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets’ November 2021 Report on...more
In July, we discussed the federal banking agencies' proposal to harmonize their respective risk management guidance. At the time, we highlighted three passages from the proposal that relate to the due diligence banking...more
Our team is pleased to announce an important publication on FinTech developments and regulation in the United States. Authored by Andrew Lorentz and Thomas Kost—and drawing on contributions from many DWT colleagues—the...more
Last week, the federal banking agencies—Federal Reserve Board (Board), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)—issued proposed interagency guidance ("Proposal") on...more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has been very clear that fair lending and racial equity are top priorities for the agency under Acting Director Dave Uejio. Support of those priorities will be far-reaching. ...more
The Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), passed over President Trump's veto as part of the National Defense Authorization Act on January 1, 2021, may have a major impact on the manner in which financial institutions comply with...more
On February 14, 2019, DWT FinTech co-chair Andy Lorentz gave a presentation on lessons learned from recent BSA/AML enforcement actions–a continued area of emphasis in a de-regulatory climate–to the Innovative Payment Alliance...more
On Thursday, November 8, DWT FinTech team co-leader Andy Lorentz took part in the Commerce.Innovated Class 8 Demo Day in New York City. Andy led a discussion on legal developments in FinTech, with a focus on federal...more
Arizona’s Fintech Sandbox -
Last month Arizona became the first U.S. state to enact a law allowing for the establishment of a fintech regulatory sandbox program (H.B. 2434) to facilitate the growth of innovative financial...more
On January 30, 2018, DWT payments team member Andy Lorentz moderated a panel at ACI’s 18th National Forum on Prepaid Card Compliance, in Washington, D.C., entitled “Update on State Regulatory Enforcement Initiatives Affecting...more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the “Bureau”) issued its first no-action letter (“NAL”) to Upstart Network, Inc. (“Upstart”), a marketplace lender that sought to clarify that its automated model for underwriting...more
On March 15, 2017, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued a “Draft Supplement” to the Comptroller’s Licensing Manual, entitled “Evaluating Charter Applications from Financial Technology Companies” (Supplement)....more
Since Comptroller of the Currency Thomas J. Curry announced last December that the OCC will move forward to consider granting special purpose national bank charters to financial technology companies—under the OCC’s existing...more