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On 14 September 2015, Minister of State for International Financial Services Simon Harris TD launched the FPAI, a new trade association founded to further the interests of stakeholders involved in the rapidly evolving Irish FinTech sector.  

FinTech (financial technology) is the term used to describe any technology applied to financial services. Across the broad spectrum of FinTech products available, everyday examples include mobile banking, peer to peer lending, digital currency (e.g. Bitcoin), crowdfunding (e.g. Kickstarter) and online payments systems (e.g. Stripe). Continue Reading Minister for International Financial Services launches FinTech and Payments Association of Ireland (FPAI)

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On 3 February 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA") both issued cybersecurity reports to the US securities industry. The SEC is the US Federal Government’s securities regulatory agency, while FINRA is a private company that acts as a self-regulatory organisation for US securities firms. The publications highlight the increased US regulatory focus in this area.

SEC: Risk Alert – Cybersecurity Examination Sweep Summary

The Risk Alert summarises the SEC’s findings following its examination of 57 broker-dealers’ and 49 investment advisers’ controls regarding cybersecurity preparedness. Notable statistics from the firms examined include:

–       88% of broker-dealers and 74% of investment advisers have experienced cyberattacks either directly or through one of their vendors. The majority of the cyberattacks involved the use of malware and fraudulent emails but no single loss exceeded $75,000;

–       93% of broker-dealers and 83% of investment advisers have written information security policies in place, of those, 89% of broker-dealers and 57% of investment advisers periodically audit policy compliance;

–       58% of broker-dealers and 21% of investment advisers maintain cybersecurity insurance, however, only one broker-dealer and one investment adviser reported that they had filed claims; and

–       Only 15% of broker-dealers and 9% of investment advisers offer security guarantees to protect their clients against cyber related loss.Continue Reading Two US regulatory bodies simultaneously publish cybersecurity reports