Latest global banking news

December 14, 2022 11:33 AM

Bermuda launches a stablecoin; Canada cracks down on crypto; big banks make high-profile payment appointments, and other news.

Here's what's happening around the world.

Jeremy Hunt, U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer

Bloomberg

U.K. plans reforms for digital assets, sustainability

Jeremy Hunt, the U.K.'s chancellor of the Exchequer, has released the Edinburgh Reforms, a series of policies designed to encourage growth in areas such as a central bank digital currency and investments in environmentally focused financial services. The reforms cover more than 30 aspects of programs, regulation and legislation. A Financial Services and Markets bill, for example, will govern the use of stablecoins for payments and increase regulation of digital assets, viewed as a key step in bringing cryptocurrency and related technology into the mainstream. The government also plans to update its Green Finance Strategy to expedite the U.K. financial industry's progress toward "net zero" emissions. The reforms also include projects tied to a potential digital pound.

Pat Brolly

JPMorgan Chase adds payments vet to EMEA management team

JPMorgan Chase has hired Pay Brolly as head of acquiring platforms and rails for the bank's Payments and Commerce solutions franchise in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Brolly has 25 years of experience in financial services, including positions at Capital One, Morgan Stanley, Barclaycard and Visa. Most recently, Brolly was head of product for Visa Europe and the U.K., including commercialization and delivery of Visa's core, digital, risk and identity management products for the card brand's issuing and acquiring clients in 38 markets. Brolly was involved with a project that developed Visa digital payment capabilities in tokenization, which is a major part of how Visa supports digital payments in multiple markets; and account management tools.

American Express opens development hub in Singapore

At a time when data science talent is in high demand, American Express has opened a Decision Center of Excellence in Singapore that will focus on data-driven financial services innovation. The lab will initially work on credit and fraud risk development, featuring new use cases for artificial intelligence, machine learning and natural language processing. Amex said it is particularly interested in expanding its presence in the Singapore technology community, and expects that the innovation that comes out of the lab will have uses in other markets where Amex operates. Several payment and financial services companies have expanded in Singapore over the past year.

Standard Chartered names payments chief for corporate banking

Standard Chartered has appointed David Rego global head of payments for transaction banking and tasked him with leading a transformation in the bank's payments business. Based in Singapore, Rego is currently the London-based bank's global head of liquidity, deposits and escrow solutions, and will remain in that role until his successor is announced. In his current post, Rego has led an expansion of building third-party money products and expanding the bank's liquidity management service. He has been with Standard Chartered for 14 years, including stints as global head of cash product development and regional cash product head for Africa. Overall, Rego has more than 25 years of experience in liquidity and cash management.

Bermuda bank launches stablecoin for real-time payments

Jewel Bank in Bermuda, a specialist in digital assets, has formed a partnership with the technology firm Polygon to launch a stablecoin backed by U.S. dollars. The stablecoin can be used for real-time settlement, and Jewel is one of the first non-U.S. banks to issue stablecoins held directly against bank deposits. Called JUSD, the stablecoin will be backed by cash deposits held in reserve and will allow instant settlement between permissioned digital wallets. The bank is positioning JUSD as a way for users to securely access digital assets following the FTX collapse, which has created regulatory uncertainty and fears of contagion in the broader cryptocurrency market.

Bank of England wants digital wallet for CBDC project

The Bank of England has called for applications for a wallet that can support a central bank digital currency. The central bank is offering a contract of about $200,000 for a wallet that can participate in a five-month project designed to demonstrate how elements of a digital pound would work. The wallet's will be used to develop a mobile app, website and server that can connect with an application programming interface. It will also need to store information on users and to track payments. Other functions include a way for users to register, update their user details, display transactions and notifications, and support for online business payments and P2P transfers. Other nearby countries, such as Spain, are also testing CBDCs.

Canada tightens rules for crypto

The Canadian Securities Administrators is expanding rules for firms that provide cryptocurrency services in Canada. The CSA, which earlier in 2022 required crypto firms awaiting registration to display terms and conditions similar to registered firms, now plans to set a deadline mandating firms submit these terms or prove they have ceased operation. Failure to comply will result in an enforcement action or other penalty under Canadian securities law. The CSA also said firms operating locally that are not based in Canada are subject to Canadian crypto regulations. These regulations include holding clients assets with a compliant custodian and separating crypto assets from a trading platform's proprietary business.

China arrests dozens of people accused of crypto laundering

Chinese police arrested 63 people who are accused of using cryptocurrency to launder about $1.7 billion. The group allegedly accrued funds from schemes such as fraud and illegal gambling, and converted the currency to the stablecoin tether, which is pegged to the U.S. dollar, according to a CNBC translation of a statement from Chinese authorities. Next they allegedly used cryptocurrency trading accounts to convert the tether to Chinese yuan. The group is also accused of using Telegram, a messaging service that is banned in China. The alleged theft came despite a series of crackdowns on cryptocurrency trading and other activity over most of the past decade.

NatWest updates open banking tech

NatWest's open-banking product now allows clients to use a single bank account to access financial services from multiple providers as a way to cut down on fraud and other risks. The London-based bank's upgrade includes Confirmation of Payee, or CoP, a service that ensures correct account details to prevent payments from being sent to the wrong account, either through theft or by mistake. NatWest has included CoP in Payit, its account-to-account platform, and has announced Teneo as an initial user. Teneo is an insolvency practitioner that will use Payit and CoP to ensure disbursements are made to a recipient's account without requiring manual confirmation.

UnionPay collaborates locally to boost European QR code payments

UnionPay's international business unit is collaborating with epay, a payment service firm, to power UnionPay's mobile QR code payment service in Europe. It's an early deployment in Europe for a system that allows Chinese tourists and other UnionPay consumers to settle UnionPay transactions within Europe. UnionPay, China's national payment card network, has more than 13 million merchants in its network outside of China, covering 96 countries and 190 million cards. The deal will also help epay, a subsidiary of EuroNet Worldwide, expand its support for QR code mobile payments. QR codes are expanding for mobile payments as merchants seek an additional option beyond near-field communication.