SEC blockchain regulation is rapidly coming into focus. Right now, cryptocurrency is considered the Wild West as there is not one centralized governing body to fully regulate it.
The SEC is turning its sight towards putting rules in place as to which cryptocurrencies can be traded on an exchange and how their exchanges are run.
“Payment for order flow,” or PFOF, refers to compensation a broker receives from a wholesale market maker in return for routing trades to that market maker. This approach to compensation is at the heart of many digital broker-dealers’ business models. It allows them to trade profitably against client orders, while their retail clients theoretically benefit from lower or no commissions.
Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI) became a hot topic across the investment landscape when the SEC adopted new rulemaking guidance in June 2019. Digital broker-dealers and robo-advisers had many questions about how Reg BI and other rules apply to self-service or automation-driven investment platforms. Those questions are still widespread.
On January 6, 2021, it was announced that Ascension Data and Analytics, LLC ("Ascension") settled a lawsuit with the Federal Trade Clinician ("FTC") which claimed that they breached the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act ("GLBA") Safeguard Rules by failing to properly assure that the security provisions of their third-party service provider to ensure if properly protected consumers identifying financial information. This case serves as a warning to all companies using third party vendors.
Regulatory scrutiny considerations for fintechs are likely to increase in 2021 and beyond. Disruptive innovators in blockchain and digital assets can help stay on the right side of current and future trends if they do not skip steps as they plan for growth. Mapping out the grey areas in advance and building a sustainable regulatory strategy will help keep newer disruptors in the black and out of the headlines.
