Private Equity Moris Beracha Wuani

By  Krystle M In Australia, there has recently been substantial debate over the regulations that need to govern cryptocurrency locally. This confusion ultimately led the authorities to issue clear regulations that would motivate growth of cryptocurrency, which much of the community was pleased with. However, the major banks in the country have maintained a cautious policy regarding bitcoin and cryptocurrency, considering the potential risk that these businesses bring to banks. Even so, there are multiple institutions allowing their customers to use their credit cards for cryptocurrency purchases, according to reports from Bitcoin.com. The second-largest back in Australia by capitalization, Westpac, commented that they do not prevent customers from making crypto asset purchases with their credit cards, with the stipulation that it has to coincide with “our legal obligations and terms and conditions.” These policies line up with the same requirements at Westpac-o...

The SEC this year has kept up a steady stream of actions against private-equity firms By Chris Cumming Evidence is building that the Securities and Exchange Commission has moved on from the era of trying to reform private equity through enforcement actions. The SEC last week released its strategic plan for the next four years, which offers an important window into how the commission views the markets and its role as regulator and enforcer. The plan is heavy on efforts to protect retail investors and adapt to changing technology, including issues like improving cybersecurity and tracing initial coin offerings. But it dedicates almost no time to private markets, institutional investors, or fee and expense abuses, areas that were often highlighted as priorities under the previous SEC regime. Instead, the SEC is focused on ways to protect retail investors, a point Jay Clayton has repeatedly emphasized since taking over as the regulator’s chairman last year. Goals in the ne...

By Pawel Kuskowski During the summer, an agent at the US’s Drug Enforcement Administration, Lilita Infante, said the ratio of legal to illegal activity in bitcoin has inverted. Talking to Bloomberg , she said illegal activity is now a problem in about 10 percent of transactions - not the 90 percent she saw five years ago.  Lilita thinks that it is speculation driving the cleaning up of transactions. We’ve also seen, over that five-year period, regulation coming into force, the professionalisation of exchanges and increasing numbers of individuals trading and investing paying attention to the anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) aspects of doing so.  But, even if regulations are in place, there are - as is the way with illegal activity in any industry - things to look out for that will be hidden. Whether you’re making payments in crypto, are involved in initial coin offerings (ICOs) or using any blockchain-based payment processes...

By Kate Rooney Nearly 50 representatives from U.S. financial giants and cryptocurrency startups are set to meet with Washington lawmakers this week to talk through what some say is an incomplete and murky regulatory landscape. Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, is hosting a roundtable, "Legislating Certainty for Cryptocurrencies," on Tuesday and asking industry experts to weigh in on how to police the new asset class ahead of a House bill he plans to introduce this fall. "Your input is critical to helping us preempt a heavy-handed regulatory approach that could stall innovation and kill the U.S. ICO market," Davidson said in a letter to invitees. The congressman outlined a list of eight questions for the meeting, including: "What is the best way to protect consumers from fraud?" The meeting will also cover private funding disclosures and token issuance laws, a spokesperson for Davidson said. Representatives from Fidelity, State Street, leading venture...

By Helen Partz A former Deutsche Bank trader has joined Japanese crypto exchange-startup FXcoin Ltd., Bloomberg reports September 3. According to the announcement, Yasuo Matsuda, an institutional trader from Deutsche Bank, will join FXcoin as a senior crypto strategist starting in September 2018. The strategist position includes providing analysis of crypto markets and daily reports on the market’s activity. The newly appointed 49-year old Matsuda worked as foreign-exchange dealer at the German bank from 2012 until this June. FXcoin Ltd., founded in September 2017, is currently seeking regulatory approval from Japan’s financial regulator the Financial Services Agency (FSA) in order to operate “virtual currency-related business.” The startup has reportedly applied with the regulator to exchange cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) under a licensing system that was adopted last year. FXcoin’s founder and CEO Tomoo Onishi is a veteran employee at Deutsche ...