Search results for

Following up on the issuance of a peer-to-peer lending regulation by Indonesia's Financial Service Authority (OJK) late last year (which was the subject of the Indonesia briefing back in February 2017), the OJK has released a circular letter setting up further guidelines on the governance and risk management aspects of peer-to-peer lending operators in Indonesia.

Following up on an article published last year in IFLR by Consortium Legal – Honduras regarding anti-money laundering (AML) legislation, on June 6 2017 the National Banking and Insurance Commission (CNBS) issued the Regulation on the Registration of Non-Financial Professions and Activities (Regulation). Beginning June 15 2017, attorneys, accountants, and various non-financial businesses, including but not limited to car dealerships, casinos, jewellery retail shops, real estate companies, and companies that grant loans without performing financial intermediation, will have to register with the AML registry for non-financial professions and activities of the CNBS.

The Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) recently announced that its financial regulatory operations will be restructured to meet the new demands of the regulatory landscape. They will be restructured to comprise two 'pillars' or functions. The first will be prudential regulation covering credit institutions, insurance and reinsurance undertakings and asset management. The second will be financial conduct covering consumer protection, securities, markets supervision and enforcement. There will also be a policy and risk directorate which will support both pillars, but will be part of the financial conduct function for administrative purposes.

On May 23 2017, Law 3/17, which amends the law on the prevention of money laundering activities – Law 2/2006 (AML Law) – came into force. (Further details of the objectives and particulars of the amendments can be found in the March 2017 Macau briefing here: www.iflr.com/Article/3664320/Macau-AML-framework-developments.html).

Transfer limits are affecting liquidity. Changes need to be made to the framework to allow more flexibility

A brief summary of recent legal developments in Thailand affecting doing business in the country follows.

Dennis M Kelleher, president and CEO, Better Markets and Peter J Wallison, senior fellow, American Enterprise Institute share their views on how the landmark legislation has impacted the financial services sector

A new competition law is scheduled to be enacted in 2018 and take effect in 2019. Currently, legislators are collecting public opinions on the second draft of this legislation, one of the hot topics currently being discussed by legal practitioners. One of the most important points to consider is that unlike the current regulations which do not clearly govern foreign entities, the draft law expressly provides that foreign entities and anti-competitive activities, including economic concentrations (ECs) which are performed outside of Vietnam but would cause a restriction of competition in Vietnam market, shall be subject to this legislation. Therefore, M&A deals between offshore entities in relation to indirect equity interests in a Vietnam-based entity will come under the oversight of the Vietnamese competition authorities.

For regulatory lawyers, 'extraterritorial' is becoming a bit of a buzzword. Seemingly not content with overseeing their own banks, asset managers or insurance firms, the world's regulators have over time, some more slowly than others, introduced far-reaching new provisions that give them the power to regulate others, too.

It's been a few months of ups and downs for the global financial markets. Brexit and Donald Trump, as well as other government elections and reshuffles in a number of jurisdictions have all played a role in upsetting the stability of the markets.