The rise of financial technology (fintech) is rapidly changing the financial services industry, in the U.S., in the U.K. and elsewhere. But with the rise of fintech also has come increasing regulation. Among the regulatory regimes applicable to fintech sector is the EU’s Payment Services Directive (PSD), designed among other things to provide certain consumer protections. A Revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) came into force on January 13, 2018. In the following guest post, Karen Boto, a Legal Director at Clyde & Co law firm, takes a look at PSD2 and considers that insurance challenges the revised regulatory regime presents. A version of this article was previously published as a Clyde & Co client alert. I would like to thank Karen for allowing me to publish her article as a guest post on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this blog’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is Karen’s article.
Continue Reading Guest Post: PSD2: A New Era for Banking?

One of the changes Congress introduced in the Jumpstart our Business Startups (JOBS) Act of 2012 was the creation of a new securities offering exemption for smaller companies. In March 2015, the SEC introduced rules implementing this provision, known as Regulation A+. The track record for Reg. A+ offerings has been mixed, as discussed further below. Recent events involving Longfin Financial, a blockchain fintech company that just completed a Reg. A+ offering in December 2017 highlights many of the questions and concerns about Reg. A+ offerings. Longfin’s share price plunged over 80% after the company announced on Monday that its offering and a subsequent acquisition are the subject of an SEC investigation. Now the company has been hit with a securities class action lawsuit. As discussed below, these recent developments have a number of implications.
Continue Reading Fintech Company Hit with Securities Suit Completed Reg. A+ Offering in December