How to Regulate Big Tech? Ideas from the BIS

The U.S. House Judiciary subcommittee, in a 449-page report last October characterized Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google as “gatekeepers” with “significant and durable market power.” The antitrust panel acknowledged open competition’s economic benefits and opportunities but compared the Big Techs to “the kinds of monopolies we last saw in the era of oil barons and railroad tycoons.”

“Big Techs have done something quite remarkable,” Agustín Carstens, general manager of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), said in a January talk, Public Policy for Big Techs in Finance. “Within less than two decades, they have gone from being startups to dominating a range of markets. This is unprecedented,” Carstens said, noting that financial services accounted for “only 11%” of Big Tech revenues “so far.” 

In Fintech Regulation: How to Achieve a Level Playing Field, a paper published in early February, Fernando Restoy, chairman of the BIS Financial Stability Institute (FSI), examines the straightforward “same activity, same regulation” principle alongside so-called entity-based regulation. 

The full article here; How to Regulate Big Tech? The BIS Has Some Ideas

 

“TOP READS OF THE WEEK” (for week ending 26 March)

The latest top reads in banking, fintech, payments, cybersecurity, AI, IoT and risk management

In this weeks selection;

Interesting to know

• Digital Payments - US still in the Dark Ages
• Decentralized Finance - What it is and what it means
• Non-Fungible Tokens - Asset or Scam?
• Google Faces New Class Action Lawsuit for Privacy Violations

Banks & Credit Unions

• Bank of America sees DeFi as potentially more disruptive than bitcoin. The bank breaks down why DeFi is fundamental
• How Digital Banking Can Help Credit Unions Succeed In 2021
• Mobile banking in GCC surges due to Covid-19

Fintech

• Fintech companies must balance the pursuit of profit against ethical data usage
• Facebook Finally Explains Its Mysterious Wrist Wearable

Payments

• 7 Steps For Mobile Banking App Development
• UX Case Study: How to Create a Mobile Banking Super App
• The disruptive trends & companies transforming digital banking services in 2021 

Cybersecurity

• Cybersecurity, skills concerns hamper Singapore SMB digitalisation efforts
• What exactly does Truecaller do with your data? A hacker’s deep dive
• Building an Embedded Finance strategy: dos and don'ts
• 3 tips for mitigating cloud-related cybersecurity risks
• Why America will never be safe from cyberattacks

Artificial Intelligence

• The Spectacular Growth of Artificial Intelligence Today
• Top 100 Artificial Intelligence Companies in the World
• 5 Common Pain Points With Machine Learning And How To Solve Them

 

 

Digital Payments - US still in the Dark Ages

Even though the US is home to both Silicon Valley and Wall Street, yet it has long seemed in the dark ages on digital payments.

Just consider that until 2018 card purchases still required hand signatures, 15 years after Europe switched to chip-and-pin. Then the cosy credit-card duopoly, consisting of Visa and Mastercard, works with the banks to issue cards, with the result that there has been too little competition and sky-high profit margins. 

The key to making payments more competitive in the US is to create a new network of financial plumbing: a “real-time” interbank-payment system that will permit near-instant and cheap transfers.

Read more from The Economist -Fintech comes to America at last

 

Decentralized Finance - What it is and what it means

"If you're not into cryptocurrency, then the mere mention of Bitcoin or Ethereum probably makes you want to roll your eyes. However, it's possible you won't be able to ignore the changes that will arise in the world of non-traditional banking for long.

That's because DeFi is currently on a path to disrupt most financial transactions in a major way. But, what is DeFi exactly? Well first, it’s short for “Decentralized Finance”.". So writes Robert Farrington in Forbes magazine.

Find out all about Decentralized Finance; what it is and what it means. Read the full article in Forbes HERE

“TOP READS OF THE WEEK” (for week ending 19 March)

The latest top reads in banking, fintech, payments, cybersecurity, AI, IoT and risk management

In this weeks selection;

Interesting to know

• Facebook Offers Content Creators New Ways To Earn Income
• The Microsoft Exchange hacks: How they started and where we are
• Dancing on the edge of your comfort zone
• Top 10 cybersecurity lessons learned one year into the pandemic
• Emerging Markets Driving the payments transformation

Banks & Credit Unions

• What We’ve Learned About Digital Banking in 2020
• Top Four Digital Trends for the Next Five Years
• Security Most Important To Retaining Mobile Banking Customers
• Bank branches will be extinct by 2034, fintech study finds
• How fintechs are working with banks to make them more green

Fintech

• Fintech companies must balance the pursuit of profit against ethical data usage
• Fintech Spotlight: JPMorgan Chase Looks To Digital Banking Innovation
• Top tech trends that will define fintech this year
• Cost to Develop Banking App and Crucial Features

Payments

• Amadeus, Mastercard Extend Collaboration For Virtual Card Travel Payments
• Flutterwave and PayPal collaborate to allow African merchants to accept and make payments

Cybersecurity

• Cyber Attacks: Is the ‘Big One’ Coming Soon?
• Hackers Rushed in as Microsoft Raced to Avert Mass Cyber-Attack
• Fifth-generation cyberattacks are here. How can the IT industry adapt?
• “Hacker Games” launched to challenge and improve cybersecurity skills
• Why Manufacturers Should Keep Cybersecurity Top of Mind

Artificial Intelligence

• AI in Cybersecurity: Six Considerations for 2021
• AI Behavioural Analysis in Banking: How Behavioral Signals is Changing Customer Interaction
• 5 Emerging AI And Machine Learning Trends To Watch In 2021

Non-Fungible Tokens - Asset or Scam?

Photographers, filmmakers, and digital artists are falling over themselves to mint NFTs in a get-rich-quick scheme that will do little beyond transferring wealth from artists to tech billionaires.

Why are so many people buying into the idea that something is rare because everyone says it is?

Get the lowdown in this article - NFTs Are a Pyramid Scheme and People Are Already Losing Money

Warren Buffett on Bitcoin: Has His Opinion Changed?

Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger share their thoughts on Bitcoin. Buffett is the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway and is widely considered the greatest investor of all time. His style of investing (first taught by Ben Graham and later adapted through conversations with Charlie Munger) has been studied by many stock investors throughout the world.