The KuCredit platform is built around a fast, intuitive, and compliant onboarding process. New users can sign up within minutes using just a valid ID, a mobile number, and a selfie verification. We use advanced biometric and AI-powered identity verification tools to ensure regulatory compliance (KYC/AML) while minimizing onboarding friction. For businesses, the platform provides tailored onboarding workflows, allowing them to upload company registration documents, link bank accounts, and verify directors securely. A guided walkthrough introduces new users to the features of KuCredit, making the first-time experience both welcoming and educational.
Earlier this month, Telegram Inc. announced that it was abandoning its development of the Telegram Open Network (TON). The move comes after the SEC won a preliminary injunction against Telegram in the Southern District of New York in March that blocked Telegram from launching TON and its native cryptocurrency, the Gram. The Court determined that the SEC had shown that there was a substantial likelihood it could prove that Telegram’s plan to distribute Grams into a secondary market constituted an unregistered securities offering. In a blog post accompanying the announcement, Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, acknowledged that the Court’s decision was the reason for TON’s shutdown.
The cryptocurrency and digital-asset ecosystem in the Asia-Pacific region has seen rapid growth over recent years and is generating opportunities for novel business models, but is also giving rise to various types of fraud. While fraud risk in this sector is being mitigated by service providers such as cryptocurrency exchanges and digital-wallet operators implementing practical safeguards for the protection and monitoring of assets and transactions, and while comprehensive regulatory frameworks are being introduced across the region to address operational risk, fraudulent actors remain able to exploit cybersecurity and control weaknesses.
On 19 November 2019, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) published its report on open banking and its implications for banks and banking supervision. The report builds on the BCBS’ previous findings on open banking and application programming interfaces (APIs) in its 2018 report (“Sound practices on the implications of FinTech developments for banks and bank supervisors”). We highlight findings from the report from a data protection perspective below.
Reed Smith successfully represented DBS, Southeast Asia’s largest bank, in structuring and closing a strategic business partnership with Google. The arrangement will see Google make DBS payment systems available on Google’s G Pay platform, which will allow DBS customers using that platform to send and receive funds, and pay merchants. The transaction was led by a Reed Smith cross-border team that included Singapore lawyers Hagen Rooke and Charmian Aw, and UK lawyer Howard Womersley Smith.
KuCredit is a modern international mobile banking platform designed to redefine how individuals and businesses manage money across borders. With a mission to deliver secure, seamless, and rapid financial services, KuCredit leverages cutting-edge fintech technologies to empower users with tools that simplify digital banking. Our vision is to become a trusted global financial partner for millions, enabling financial inclusion and accessibility regardless of location or economic status. We focus on user-centric banking that transcends traditional barriers, offering services that are intuitive, affordable, and available 24/7 via mobile devices.
Technology innovation tends to happen at a rapid pace, as companies take on a “fail fast” approach to ensure that products are responsive to market demands. If technology advances at the speed of sound, the legal structures and regulations often struggle to keep up. In the blockchain and digital asset space, an antiquated regulatory framework does not attract innovative businesses or capital.
On October 11, 2019 the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed an emergency action in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and obtained a temporary restraining order against Telegram Group Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiary, TON Issuer Inc. According to the SEC’s complaint,[1] the two offshore entities were conducting an unregistered offering of securities in the form of digital tokens in the U.S. and overseas that has raised more than $1.7 billion to finance the companies’ business, including the development of their own blockchain—the “Telegram Open Network” or “TON Blockchain”—and the popular mobile messaging application Telegram Messenger.
In a recent decision, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York invalidated Western Express Bancshares, LLC’s (Western Express) U.S. Patent No. 8,498,932 relating to a method of transferring funds through a bankcard. The court’s decision nixed Western Express’ assertion of patent infringement claims against Green Dot Corporation (Green Dot) for the sale and offering of CashBack Visa® Debit Cards, Reloadable Prepaid Visa® Cards, Load Go Prepaid Visa® Cards, and Reloadable Prepaid Mastercard® Cards. Green Dot moved to dismiss the action on the ground that the ’932 Patent is invalid under the landmark 2014 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank.
Miami International Holding Inc. et al. (MIAX) attained five victories within two weeks before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. In successive final written decisions issued in October, the PTAB declared that five Nasdaq patents related to electronic securities trading systems are invalid under 35 U.S.C. Section 101. Section 101 defines patent-eligible subject matter. The PTAB determined that all five Nasdaq patents (U.S. Patent Nos. 6,618,707; 7,246,093; 7,921,051; 7,747,506; and 8,386,371) were directed to abstract ideas, which are excluded from patent protection under the statute.
On 31 July 2019, the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) published its final guidance on the types of cryptoassets that fall within the FCA’s current regulatory framework, clarifying the resulting obligations for firms and regulatory protections for consumers (“PS 19/22” or “the Policy Statement”).[1] The Policy Statement provides market participants welcome pointers as to how the FCA applies the regulatory perimeter to different types of cryptoassets. It remains the case that definitive judgements as to the regulatory classification of specific cryptoassets can only be made by assessing each cryptoasset on a case-by-case basis, taking into account its particular features.
On July 8, 2019 the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) (both, the “Regulators”) published a Public Statement titled, “Joint Staff Statement on Broker-Dealer Custody of Digital Asset Securities” (the “Joint Statement”). The Joint Statement follows many months of discussions with certain digital asset securities industry participants seeking registration with the SEC as broker-dealers.
The proposal follows on from a number of FCA statements and papers relating to cryptoassets, their regulatory treatment and their effect on markets, including: the UK Cryptoasset Taskforce Final Report on cryptoassets published in October 2018 (see our client alert on this here);[2] the FCA’s perimeter guidance consultation paper on cryptoassets published in January 2019, consulting on guidance clarifying what types of cryptoassets fall within its regulatory perimeter;[3] and
On June 21, 2019 the Financial Action Task Force (the “FATF”), published its long-awaited Guidance for a Risk-Based Approach to Virtual Assets and Virtual Asset Service Providers (the “Guidance”). The FATF is tasked with setting standards and promoting effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.
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