Since the ICO boom in 2017, governments around the world began settling on different approaches to regulating the crypto industry. Many legislatures and regulators proactively drafted new laws, regulations, guidance and frameworks for the crypto industry. Others used investigatory authorities and enforcement actions to regulate the industry. We expect that governments around the world will remain active for the foreseeable future as cryptoassets become more mainstream. Baker McKenzie’s new guide, Crypto around the World, presents…
In June 2018, the Government of Japan introduced a framework under the Act on Special Measures for Productivity Improvement (seisansei koujou tokubetsu sochi hou) to encourage innovation through a project- based ‘regulatory sandbox’. The purpose was to create an environment in which businesses can conduct proof of concept and pilot testing for new technologies and business models that are not covered by existing regulations. The aim is to facilitate the collection of data and contribute…
Cryptoassets continue to be a hot topic for financial services regulators. On 19 October 2018, it was the turn of the Securities and Markets Stakeholders Group (“SMSG“), which represents various stakeholders’ interests to the European Securities Markets Authority (“ESMA“). The SMSG published a report setting out its advice to ESMA on how to contain the risks of cryptoassets and ICOs.
Stockholm is a major hub for Fintech, attracting about one fifth of all European FinTech investments and can pride itself in being the home of successful FinTech companies such as Klarna and iZettle. In order to maintain its position as a European FinTech center, the Swedish Government has given the Financial Supervisory Authority an assignment to facilitate FinTech innovation. This has resulted in a FinTech Regulatory Sandbox where FinTech companies can bounce off their ideas and seek guidance directly with the regulators.
The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (Sw: Finansinspektionen) (the “FSA”) received an assignment from the Swedish National Innovation Council (the “Council”) in May 2017 to investigate how the FSA could handle questions and needs of financial businesses offering new and innovative services. The Council is tasked with advancing Sweden as a country of innovation and strengthening Sweden’s competitiveness. The Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven chairs the Council, which consists of five ministers and ten advisory members from the business and research sectors.