In a particularly busy week for news, here are the stories that dominated the world’s of Forex, Fintech and Crypto, in this week’s best of the week segment.
Kraken Gets License for Wyoming’s First Cryptocurrency Bank
Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has secured approval from a state regulator in the US to launch a crypto bank under an SPDI charter. The San Francisco-headquartered firm has received formal notice from the Wyoming Division of Banking that the application of its subsidiary was accepted.
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Kraken applied for a bank charter under Wyoming’s special-purpose depository institution law. It will tentatively do business under the name ‘Kraken Financial’.
Read more on the Kraken Crypto Bank here.
iSignthis Secures FCA Authorisation to Act as an EMI in the UK
Despite its troubles in Australia, iSignthis Ltd (ASX: ISX) announced this Monday that its wholly-owned subsidiary, ISX Financial UK Ltd (ISXUK), has been approved as an Authorised Electronic Money Institution (AEMI) by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
According to the FCA’s register, ISXUK received authorisation to act as an AEMI on 11th September this year. Following the authorisation, the company can now distribute and redeem electronic money, as well as offer its range of payment services under the Payment Services Regulations.
The authorisation also allows iSignthis, a payments identity service provider, to continue offering its services to UK customers without interruption post Brexit.
Read more on the iSignthis FCA Authorisation here.
Fisco Files Complaint Against Binance for Facilitating Money Laundering
Fisco Cryptocurrency Exchange, Inc, a Japanese cryptocurrency exchange, has filed a complaint against Binance Holdings Ltd. in a United States Court, claiming that Binance facilitated the laundering of stolen funds from Zaif, a cryptocurrency exchange that was hacked in 2018.
According to a document seen by Finance Magnates filed through the United States District Court of the Northern District of California San Jose on Monday, Fisco is seeking relief from Binance, including compensatory damages, expectancy damages, and restitution in an amount to be determined at trial.
Read more on the Fisco Binance Complaint here.
UBS and Credit Suisse Might Merge as One Entity
As Finance Magnates covered this week, Credit Suisse and UBS may see a possible merger as the chairmen of the banks are already considering to create a single European banking giant.
The merger project has been named Signal and is headed by UBS chairman, Axel Weber, who is in talks with Urs Rohner from Credit Suisse. Weber is likely to become the chairman of the combined entity, so someone from Credit Suisse might take up the position of CEO. It is to be noted that Ralph Hamers will become UBS CEO in November replacing Sergio Ermotti.
Read more on the UBS and Credit Suisse Merger here.
Apple Pay Gives Crypto Exchange Coinmama Its Blessing for Service Integration
Finance Magnates exclusively revealed that Cryptocurrency exchange, Coinmama has become the first crypto exchange to have been authorized to integrate with ApplePay.
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Cryptocurrency exchanges have indeed integrated ApplePay before, but they did not receive official permission from Apple.
Read more on the Apple Pay Coinmama blessing here.
Leasing Firm Grenke Under Fire as Viceroy Raises Fraud Alarm
Short seller Viceroy Research, which was the first to raise the alarm on the collapsed payment company, Wirecard, has set its sights on Grenke in its latest report, marking the latest blow for a German financial services provider.
Grenke stock saw their biggest drop in more than three decades on Wednesday after the short seller targeted the leasing company, accusing it of issuing fraudulent financial statements to hide the extent of its problems.
Read more on Grenke here.
eToro Launches 12 New Football Sponsorships in the UK & Germany
Finance Magnates was the first to report that eToro has significantly expanded its football sports sponsorships, by launching twelve new sponsorship deals with football clubs across the United Kingdom and Germany.
Under the expansion, eToro will be extending its UK Premier League partnerships with Crystal Palace, Everton, Leicester City and Southampton. Further, the trading company will be adding West Bromwich Albion and Burnley to the mix.
Moving over to Germany, the trading provider has extended its existing partnership with Eintracht Frankfurt and expanded its portfolio to include FC Augsburg, 1. FC Cologne, Hamburger SV (Bundesliga 2), Union Berlin and Vfl Wolfsburg.
Read more on the eToro football sponsorships here.
What Does the CSBS’s Compliance Plan Mean for Crypto in the US?
Earlier this week, the United States Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) announced that a new, standardized regime for money service businesses (MSBs) will be introduced across 48 states.
In a Finance Magnates analysis, we broke down how the United States is finally making movements toward regulating for a new reality in financial technology: one that largely exists across state lines.
Read the CSBS Compliance plan analysis here
What Does Nigeria’s Proposed Crypto Regulation Mean for Crypto in Africa?
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Nigeria recently announced that it will be regulating the trade of digital currencies in the country. “Issuers or sponsors of virtual digital assets shall be guided by the commission’s regulation,” the regulator said in a statement.
With expert insight by Fernando Martinho, chief executive of fintech crowdfunding service Nimbus Platform, and Ray Youssef, CEO of Paxful, no stone was left unturned as we looked at the implications for Africa and crypto from the latest Nigerian regulation.
Read more on the Nigerian crypto regulation here.