Draft law for the introduction of foreign investment control in Switzerland In brief On 15 December 2023, the Federal Council adopted a draft Investment Screening Act (the “D-ISA“). To date, Switzerland has no overarching regulation for the review of foreign investments as prevalent in other countries. The D-ISA intends to introduce sector-specific investment control in Switzerland to prevent takeovers of Swiss companies operating in critical sectors by foreign state-controlled investors (public or private investors that are directly or indirectly controlled by a state) if these takeovers enda ..read more

In brief On 12 March 2024, the Australian Government released exposure draft legislation on Buy Now, Pay Later products (BNPLs) for public consultation. This follows the Government’s previous consultation on the regulatory framework for BNPLs, and growing calls to regulate the BNPL industry in order that these products might have similar or the same protections that exist for consumer credit products in Australia. The reforms have been driven by Government concerns relating to unaffordable lending practices, unsatisfactory complaint resolution and hardship assistance, the charging of excessive ..read more

In brief The Entertainment Complex Policy Parliamentary Committee (“Parliamentary Committee“) has considered and endorsed the draft Entertainment Complex Bill, B.E. … (“Entertainment Complex Bill“), a concept initiated many years ago. The Entertainment Complex Bill aims to facilitate the establishment of entertainment complexes that include casinos. This has been passed to the House of Representatives in March 2024. In more detail To date, based on the publicly available information, the Entertainment Complex Bill and its sub-regulations should include the following matters and requirements ..read more

In brief The National Executive Power issued Decree No. 4924 on 21 February 2024 (“Decree“),1 which exonerates the following from paying the Large Financial Transactions Tax (LFTT): (i) debits that generate the purchase, sale or transfer of securities issued or guaranteed by the Republic or the Central Bank of Venezuela (CBV), (ii) debits or withdrawals related to the payment of their capital or interest, and (iii) securities traded in different stock exchanges or the agricultural stock exchange, made in a currency other than the legal tender. The Decree entered into force on 26 February ..read more

In brief In January 2024, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) published amendments and changes to several national instruments and companion policies to implement a new non-mandatory access model (Access Model) for preliminary and final prospectuses (collectively, prospectuses) of non-investment fund reporting issuers (Issuers). The Access Model is not available for rights offerings, medium term note programs and other continuous distributions under a shelf prospectus. The amendments are effective 16 April 2024. Key takeaways File the preliminary prospectus or final prospectus on SED ..read more

In brief With the rise of new technology and digital transformation in recent years, Vietnam’s government has been working on a regulatory framework to govern financial technology (fintech) activities in the country. Back in 2020, the first ever draft of a regulatory sandbox was released, with the expectation that Vietnam would soon have a regulatory framework for fintech to keep up with this global trend. However, there has been no development in the launch of the sandbox until early this March 2024. On 4 March 2024, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) released a new draft decree (“Draft Decree ..read more

In brief On 7 March 2024, the Financial Institutions (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill (“FIMA Bill“) was read for the second time in the Singapore Parliament. Broadly, the FIMA Bill seeks to reinforce the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) mandate over Singapore’s financial sector through the following: Harmonising and enhancing MAS’ investigative powers across six Acts, namely the Financial Advisers Act 2001 (FAA), the Financial Services and Markets Act 2022, the Insurance Act 1966, the Payment Services Act 2019, the Securities and Futures Act 2001 (SFA) and the Trust Companies Act 2005 ..read more

Mexico has approved amendments to the General Law on Negotiable Instruments and Credit Transactions to allow the use of electronic credit instruments, making commerce transactions more efficient, secure and easier to enforce In brief Mexican lawmakers have passed amendments to the General Law on Negotiable Instruments and Credit Transactions and the General Law of Credit Organizations and Auxiliary Credit Activities. These amendments allow the issuance of digital versions of credit instruments, such as certificates of deposit, promissory notes, bills of exchange and checks. The amendments serv ..read more

This update focuses particularly on the expansion of the scope to domestic money transfer (DMT) service, cross-border money transfer (CBMT) service and digital payment token (DPT) service, and examines who are the persons affected by such expansion, as well as what needs to be done by such affected persons in order to benefit from transitional arrangements and continue operations. In summary, there are two groups of persons affected by the expanded scope, and different actions apply to each group as follows: Persons who had started providing the expanded scope of services before 4 Apri ..read more

The financial sector exemplifies the huge benefits that come from embracing innovation and digital disruption, but staying on the cutting edge of progress demands constant evolution. You may view the entire article here. The post Global: The next decade in fintech appeared first on Global Compliance News ..read more