There is a gap in the regulation of crypto-assets that Congress needs to fix. The gap is contributing to fraud and weak investor protection in the distribution and trading of crypto-assets. In “It’s time to strengthen the regulation of crypto-assets,” Timothy G. Massad discusses how better regulation will benefit crypto investors, further the development of new technologies, curtail the use of crypto-assets used for illicit payments, and reduce the risk of cyber attacks, which can result in collateral damage elsewhere in our financial system.

Crypto-assets cut across current jurisdictional boundaries and thus fall into gaps between regulatory authorities. While each of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has some authority over crypto-assets, neither has sufficient jurisdiction, nor do they together.

The hype surrounding Bitcoin and other crypto-assets has contributed to regulatory distraction. Bitcoin’s creators promised it would solve the “trust problem” and reduce our reliance on centralized financial intermediaries. However, it has not reduced our reliance on financial intermediaries or eroded the power of our largest institutions. Indeed, crypto-assets have created new financial intermediaries that are less accountable than the big banks.

New crypto exchanges and trading platforms are not subject to the traditional standards required of securities and derivatives market intermediaries. As a result, investor protection is weak and allegations of fraud and conflicts of interest are frequent.

There are no specific rules to ensure protection of customer assets. One supposed virtue of distributed ledger technology (DLT) is to provide an immutable record of ownership. Yet some platforms do not actually record customer interests on the blockchain and may operate without sufficient assets to cover customer claims. It is like fractional reserve banking without the regulatory framework or insurance that protects depositors. There are no rules regarding how trades are executed.

Crypto exchanges are not required to have systems to prevent fraud and manipulation, nor are there rules to prevent or minimize conflicts of interest. Crypto exchanges can engage in proprietary trading against their customers, something the New York Stock Exchange cannot do. Regulations to minimize operational risk and ensure system safeguards are needed, just as with securities and derivatives intermediaries.

Inadequate regulatory oversight creates broader societal risks with respect to cyber security and illicit payments. Unlike banks and exchanges, crypto intermediaries do not face any specific cyber security requirements, and cyber hacks are common: “Hacking [against crypto institutions] is on the rise because it works.”

Source: The Brookings Institution.

In a special March issue of RUBEZH magazine, the founder Internet-Rozysk, Igor Bederov told about six main trends and products that will determine the vector of development of information and analytical services developed for law enforcement agencies and private security services.

From January to November 2018, law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation registered 156,307 crimes committed by means of information and telecommunication technologies. Less than a quarter solved and submitted to the court. IT investigative solutions are gaining popularity. Moreover, startups are ready to offer government customers prices that are 5-10 times lower than the cost of already used software products.

For example, trend 6: Control cryptocurrency turnover

Along with the growing popularity of cryptocurrency operations in the world, their appeal to criminals is also increasing. In August 2018, the Federal Financial Monitoring Service Rosfinmonitoring), whose task is to counter financial frauds and the financing of terrorism, ordered an analytical tool to track operations with cryptocurrencies, in particular Bitcoin.

According to information from the state procurement website, by the end of 2018, the system should have a mechanism for receiving and processing information about transactions in bitcoins and electronic wallets. A government contract worth 196 million rubles for the development of the platform was obtained by the Institute for Security Problems and Information Analysis (SPI).

A similar product designed for assessing the reliability of cryptowallets and conducting investigations of crimes committed using cryptocurrencies is being developed in St. Petersburg.

The project is actively seeking investors. It has the working title “SICP” (Security Intelligence Cryptocurrencies Platform). At the time of writing, the SICP is the only working domestic service for evaluating cryptotransactions. The free alpha version of the service is shared on the link: http://sicp.ueba.su

Source: RuBezh.

At the beginning of the year, KPMG surveyed more than 100 of the largest companies and found out which technologies the Russian business is implementing, which budgets of the organization are willing to spend on such projects and how they generally approach the management of digital transformation.

Main conclusions:

63% of respondents indicated that they have developed a digital transformation program, but in reality this more often means a set of short-term pilot projects;

77% of responding companies expect increased operational efficiency and reduced costs through digitization of processes;

The most popular technologies that have already been tested by Russian companies: big data analysis and predictive analytics (68%), chat bots (51%), robotization of office processes (50%);

The position of the CDO (Chief Digital Officer) is only in 16% of companies, the committee on digitalization - in 13%. In most Russian companies, decisions on digitalization projects are made by individual consideration at the top management level;

65% of companies attract startups to implement pilot projects;

In 2019, 36% of companies are ready to invest more than 100 million rubles in the implementation of projects on digitization of processes, while 55% of respondents plan to spend less than 50 million rubles;

51% of companies expect that the investment will pay off in less than 2 years, another 43% expect return on investment within 2-5 years.

Source: KPMG | RU.

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The Cyber Risk Management Certifications and Assessment can help you comply with GDPR and is an absolute necessity if you are under GDPR regulations compliance.

CYBERPOL Partnership Training Programs in accreditation with CYBERPOL The International Cyber Policing Organization approved by Decree (D-U-N-S Number 371018431). They provide four basic cyber training modules ranging from €499 to €1299 per certification in which the candidates on completion receives the certification, in some cases valid for one year and must be renewed annually.

The Accreditation QA (Quality Assurance) is in accordance with the use of accreditation class 42 of the trademarks act for academicals purposes. Thus ensuring such certification can only be issued by the license holders of such certifications.

Who Should Attend

All those wishing to act the Role of DPA/CSO/SSO/ IT manager along with all Personnel involved in IT & OT systems.

The following courses:

1. CyberPOL Cyber Essentials Cyber Security Essentials Awareness Training - Level I (SYBC1)

2. CyberPOL Cyber Essentials Cyber Security Essentials Awareness Training - Level II (CYB2)

3. CyberPOL Cyber Essentials PCI Compliance Security Awareness Training - Level I (CYBCPCI1)

4. CyberPOL Cyber Essentials PCI Compliance Security Awareness Training Level II (CYBPCI2)

5. CyberPOL Cyber Essentials Cyber Security Awareness Certifications and re-certifications ( coming soon)  

6. CYBERPOL HIPAA Compliance Security Awareness Training (CYBHIPAA)

Accreditation By CYBERPOL The International Cyber Policing Organization by Decree and endorsed by ECIPS The European Centre for Information Policy and Security.

Policy and Compliance

Regulatory Reference: BIMCO Guidelines on Cyber Security, EU Regulation 2016/679, IMO MSC-FAL.1/Circ.3, ISO 27032:2012, Policy Letter 08_2016, TMSA, UK Department of Transport Code of Practice Cyber Security for Ships, USCG Cyber Security Strategy, GDPR.

All courses are European Centre for Information Policy and Security (ECIPS) endorsed.

Source: CyberPOL Academy.

Source: European Centre for Information Policy and Security (ECIPS).

The Swiss fintech market grew by 62 percent in 2018, according to a recent study by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences published on February, 27.

In the IFZ FinTech Study 2018 of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, the project team provides a comprehensive overview of the Swiss FinTech sector.

The entire 140 page study can be downloaded free of charge from Swiss Bankers Prepaid Services Ltd.

Source: Swiss Bankers.

15 January 2019 - Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) are one of the most prominent applications of blockchain for finance, allowing for an innovative and inclusive way of financing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Although the lack of regulatory clarity currently exposes ICO participants to some risks, appropriately regulated and supervised ICOs offer a potential new way to raise capital for projects enabled by Distributed Ledger Technologies and the blockchain.

This report analyses the emergence and potential of ICOs as a financing mechanism for start-ups and SMEs, examines the benefits and challenges of this mechanism for small businesses and investors, and discusses the policy implications of ICO activity for the inclusive financing of SMEs and the real economy...

Source: OECD.

February 14, 2019. AmCham SPb News and Events...

The meeting featured three presentations by Igor Bederov, Internet-Rozysk, Yuri Ivanov, Hyundai Motors and by Alexander Podobnykh, SICP and convened around 20 security specialists from member companies.

Presentations:

1. Risks prevention at the first contact stage. What can contact details reveal? (in Russian).

2. Access control and access management systems: new technologies in security provision (in Russian).

3. Prevention and investigation of crypto currency turnover related crime (in Russian).

Source: AmCham Russia.

Mind Smith has prepared an overview of key materials, analytical reports, research, reports and research articles. All the most interesting in the industry for the month...

37 analytical studies and reports, 27 scientific articles, 5 documents of international organizations.

Since 2018, Mind Smith has been implementing strategic blockchain consulting. Helps answer the question about the use of technology blockchain in business, conducts research and strategic sessions for top managers.

The company believes in the blockchain technology, but understand its limitations. For effective implementation of a well-coordinated work of the business and technical team. Mind Smith is ready to go all the way from the search for possible scenarios and the preparation of the concept to the implementation of the pilot and the implementation of the solution in the business.

Download digest.

We are proud to present the single, most comprehensive data-driven analysis on European technology today.

What’s changed for European tech in the past 12 months? It’s been another record year for investment in European tech and the sector is powering growth in Europe’s stagnant economy. Yet not everyone is benefitting from the boom. The gains are not being democratized by investors. Companies need to address diversity and inclusion tools and unlock hidden talent pools.

This is the fourth edition of the State of European Tech report, the single, most comprehensive data-driven story of European technology today. We’ve gathered data from world-class data partners and a survey of 5,000 members of the tech ecosystem, from founders to students, investors to researchers. We’ve tried to tell the most important stories. We cover diversity and inclusion, talent, regulation, investment, research and development, and the great, global disrupters out of Europe...

Source: State of European Tech 2018.

On January 8, Bank For International Settlements released BIS Papers № 101, written by By Christian Barontini and Henry Holden.

The hypothetical benefits and risks of central bank digital currencies are being widely discussed. This BIS paper adds to these discussions by taking stock of how progress and plans in this area are developing, based on a global survey of central banks. Responses show that central banks are proceeding with caution and most are only at a conceptual stage with their work. However, a handful have moved to considering practical issues and a couple of central banks with idiosyncratic circumstances might issue a digital currency in the short or medium term.

Source: Bank for International Settlements.