FIMA

📢 Busy times ahead for Compliance Professionals in Payments & E-Money space! With critical deadlines fast approaching, the industry must gear up for the following: 1️⃣ DORA takes effect in January 2025 2️⃣ DORA Register of Information: Submission to ESAs due by end April 2025 with an earlier submission deadline to the MFSA 3️⃣ New FI Rulebook: Full implementation by mid-December 2024 4️⃣ New FI Return: Submission by 31 January 2025 5️⃣ Revised REQs: Also due by 31 January 2025 💡 Embark Malta and Compliance 360 Ltd are here to help your firm navigate these complex requirements and meet all deadlines efficiently. Speak to us should you wish to discuss how we can help! 🤝 #Compliance #Payments #Fintech #DORA

24.11.24 #COP29 Poor-world discontent, rich countries fail to deliver 😞 The hasty imposition of a deal at the #UN #climate conference (#Cop29) over the objections of poorer #nations has fractured global trust and undermined recent progress. This was supposed to be the “finance Cop” when two dozen industrialised countries – including the #US, #Europe and #Canada – promised to pay developing nations for the damage caused by their rise. Instead, developing nations – inc. #India, – say this weekend’s agreement for $300bn (instead of the $1.3tn!) a year in 2035 is too little, too late. Worse, rich governments will be able to escape their obligations by relying on cash from private companies and international lenders. #Environment #UN #ESG #COP29

20.11.24 The #CyberResilience Act/ #CRA is published! Sister to #NIS2 and #DORA and part of the EU's #Digital #Strategy library of laws. This is the realm of #SecuritybyDesign 😎 For those dealing with digital products understanding and preparing for CRA is crucial. This law cuts horizontally across different industries. From #FinServ to #FinTech and onto #Gambling and #Gaming and well beyond! CRA covers all software and hardware products, including their data processing solutions and parts sold separately. It applies to anything directly or indirectly connecting to another device or network. The CRA introduces mandatory #cybersecurity requirements for digital products and services, improving #transparency through labelling and documentation, and addressing vulnerabilities in real-time. This sets a precedent for businesses, requiring re-evaluation of development processes, #supplychains, and #compliance strategies. #Consumers gain confidence in digital product security, while industries working with physical products face challenges and opportunities to adapt, ensuring compliance and competitiveness in a security-conscious market. Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2024 on horizontal cybersecurity requirements for products with digital elements and amending Regulations (EU) No 168/2013 and (EU) No 2019/1020 and Directive (EU) 2020/1828 (Cyber Resilience Act) (Text with EEA relevance) #Advisory MERKUR GROUP MERKUR eSOLUTIONS https://lnkd.in/d2AuuDGS

🚨 The EBA issues final guidance on internal policies, procedures and controls to ensure the implementation of Union and national sanctions. Weaknesses in this area expose financial institutions to legal, reputational risks, and undermine the effectiveness of the EU’s restrictive measures regimes, leading to potential circumvention and affect the stability and integrity of the EU’s financial system. 💡 The first Guidelines are addressed to all institutions which fall within the scope of the EBA, and the second concern payment service providers (PSPs) and crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) respectively. Learn more here: https://europa.eu/!G7K33X

📢 Attn: FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS* 📢 Information on the new REQ submission process and deadlines available in the link below: https://lnkd.in/d_w-gEv4 *FIs licensed under the provisions of the Financial Institutions Act only, and not applicable to FIs holding other licenses.

🎉 Alunafi Ltd is officially licensed as a Financial Institution in Malta! 🎉 We couldn’t be prouder to share that Alunafi Ltd has been granted its Financial Institution license, right in time for SiGMA World week! It’s an incredible milestone for our team, and having this achievement coincide with such a prominent event makes it all the more exciting. Malta’s renowned regulatory framework and commitment to innovation create the perfect foundation for us to grow and make an impact in the financial landscape, with our team focused very much on the Innovation side. This achievement has been a journey of hard work, collaboration, and dedication, and we owe it to our outstanding team and leadership that have created focus and enthusiam to bring this journey forward. A huge THANK YOU 👏 to everyone at Alunafi Ltd who poured their energy, expertise, and passion into this process. We’d also like to extend our gratitude to Bridge Advice . Their support, guidance, and know-how were instrumental in helping us reach this point. We couldn’t have done it without their expertise and steady hand along the way. SiGMA World week is here, and with our license in hand, we’re ready to dive into the conversations, insights, and energy that this amazing event brings to the island. Here’s to the next chapter for Alunafi Ltd, the remaining work ahead, but most of all to making the most of SiGMA! 🚀 Roderick Psaila Deborah Gatt Ian Gusman Marco Mercieca Julian Goffin #FinancialInstitution #SiGMA2024 #Malta #Teameffort

#Coinbase Wants to Turn Every FinTech Into a Crypto Company If #cryptocurrency #exchange Coinbase’s Q3 2024 #earnings results (Oct. 30) were any indication, the use of crypto for #speculation is waning, while the utility of crypto within #payments is waxing. “The technology is there, but we need to create the user experiences [...] We need to continue to create on-ramps and off-ramps into stablecoins so that people can use them for global payments. We can make the experience more seamless within our products so that we can build better P2P payment opportunities for consumers.” Coinbase’s partnership with #Visa, announced this week, allows debit #cardholders to #transfer #funds instantly to their Coinbase accounts, signaling the company’s drive to improve crypto liquidity and accessibility for a broader user base. As Coinbase navigates an environment of regulatory pressures, low crypto volatility and slowing trading activity, its pivot toward stablecoin-related services and infrastructure development highlights a potential path forward. With stablecoins seen as a promising area for broader adoption — especially given their compliance with the #EU’s #MiCA regulations — Coinbase is positioning itself as a leader in crypto-enabled financial solutions that span beyond trading. Advisory MERKUR GROUP MERKUR eSOLUTIONS https://lnkd.in/d4Y-3U_8

25.10.24 #MAS circular setting out its expectations of major payment institutions (#MPIs) that are licensed under the Payment Services Act 2019 (PS Act) to carry on a business of providing an account issuance service and that issue personal payment accounts containing e-money. On 15.12.23, the Regulations were amended to raise the regulatory limit on the 'stock cap' and 'flow cap' for e-wallets. Under the amendments, MPIs that issue #e-wallets (MPI e-wallet providers) can now provide individual customers with a stock cap of up to SGD 20,000/EUR 13,925 (previously SGD 5,000), and a flow cap of up to SGD 100,000/EUR 69,627 (previously SGD 30,000). The MAS expects such providers to implement anti-scam measures (Annex A to the circular) first, before raising the stock and/or flow caps for their customers’ e-wallets beyond the previous regulatory limits of SGD 5,000 and SGD 30,000 respectively. It expects any MPI e-wallet providers that do not wish to adopt the higher e-wallet caps to consider the anti-scam measures and look to progressively implement the measures over time. https://lnkd.in/dZKz7haS

Winning #Payment #Strategies for #HighOpportunity #Industries Watch this webinar to understand the payment needs of high-opportunity industries like #online #trading, #digital #goods, #online #gaming, creator economy and others. High opportunity industries like the above mentioned are growing fast. Their unique payment needs cannot be ignored and payment service providers are taking note. These industries now have options to embrace profitable growth while managing payment fraud, risk and reliability like never before. High-opportunity industries should no longer settle for subpar, overly restrictive, unreliable payment providers. They can now find tailored payment solutions that also offer value-added services like business accounts, chargeback and dispute management, KYB and KYC verification and more favourable foreign exchange. https://lnkd.in/devJz3ua