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Fintech

GlobalBlock Provides Update on FCA Registration and Announces EU Incorporation

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– GlobalBlock UK incorporates business in the EU and withdraws from the FCA registration process –

– Operations will continue uninterrupted beyond the FCA’s 31st March 2022 deadline –

London, United Kingdom and Vancouver, British Columbia–(Newsfile Corp. – March 24, 2022) – GlobalBlock Digital Asset Trading Limited (TSXV: BLOK) (OTC Pink: BLVDF) (FSE: BD4) (the “Company” or “GlobalBlock“) provides the following update on the pending application (the “Application“) by the Company’s wholly owned UK subsidiary, GlobalBlock Limited (“GlobalBlock UK“), for registration as a cryptoasset business with the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom (the “FCA“), following an earlier press release on 25 February 2022.

Over the past few weeks, the Company has had regular correspondence with the FCA regarding its Application and has decided that a withdrawal from the FCA process is in the best interests of its clients and shareholders, with a view to reapplying at some point in the future. A 60-day extension for GlobalBlock UK under the temporary registration regime has been agreed with the FCA to ensure the Company has a smooth transition to becoming a European based Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP).

GlobalBlock is therefore pleased to announce that, in conjunction with the above decision and fitting with its plans to expand the customer base beyond the UK, it has incorporated GlobalBlock Europe UAB in the European Union jurisdiction of Lithuania. This means that GlobalBlock UK will remain registered under the FCA’s temporary regime in the UK until the 25th May 2022, during which time the Company will be registered as a VASP in Europe. This will ensure all client assets and trading services will continue as normal and accounts will be transitioned into a more crypto friendly regime.

GlobalBlock remains committed to the highest of regulatory standards, employing stringent policies and procedures in respect to Know Your Customer, Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing.

Rufus Round, CEO of GlobalBlock, said:

“Our client centric approach has meant that the recent FCA developments have had little to no impact on the business in terms of clients’ loyalty to the brand. GlobalBlock is dedicated to offering the best-in-class digital asset product solutions and cryptoasset trading services and we are very aware that this nascent industry is subject to certain regulatory uncertainties.

“We look forward to transitioning them seamlessly to GlobalBlock Europe and the Company’s roadmap for growth remains intact, with plans to upgrade our technology soon. In turn we will be able to open further product offerings and opportunities for the business. The potential for MiCA and European crypto regulatory passporting is an exciting prospect that will open a huge market for us.”

Adoption of New Articles

The Company also confirms that it has formally adopted the new Articles that were approved by the shareholders of the Company in accordance with the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) at the December 31, 2020 meeting of shareholders of the Company. The purpose of implementing these new Articles was to modernize the Company’s Articles and better align with recent legal and regulatory developments and market practice by TSX Venture Exchange listed companies. The major changes from the former Articles included adoption of “advance notice” provisions, updates to the mandatory indemnification provisions and certain “housekeeping” amendments that were intended to clarify and simplify the Articles.

ABOUT THE COMPANY

GlobalBlock Digital Asset Trading Limited is a publicly traded holding company (TSXV: BLOK) whose wholly owned subsidiary, GlobalBlock Limited (https://www.globalblock.co.uk), is at this time a United Kingdom based digital asset broker that provides a personalised telephone brokerage service, trading platform and mobile app. Established in 2018 by an experienced team of financial services professionals, GlobalBlock Limited acts as a trusted agent serving the digital asset needs of individuals, corporates, institutional financial firms and intermediaries, providing best execution trading and safe custody of digital assets. At this time, GlobalBlock Limited only accepts United Kingdom and Ireland resident clients or customers for its digital asset broker or trading services.

For further information please contact the Company at:

Rufus Round, CEO
c/o 65 Curzon Street, London, W1J 8PE, United Kingdom
Tel. +00 44 20 3286 2904
[email protected]

https://globalblock.co.uk/ and http://www.globalblockdigital.com/
https://twitter.com/Globalblocknews
https://www.linkedin.com/company/globalblock/

Media Contact
Angus Campbell
Citigate Dewe Rogerson
[email protected]

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain information set out in this news release constitutes forward-looking statements or information. Forward looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as “seek”, “anticipate”, “plan”, “continue”, “estimate”, “expect”, “may”, “will”, “intend”, “could”, “might”, “should”, “believe” and similar expressions. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking statements in respect of among other things, the continued and successful development of the businesses and technologies of each of the Company, GlobalBlock Limited and GlobalBlock Europe UAB, the ability of GlobalBlock Europe UAB to obtain the applicable regulatory approvals to continue to conduct its business and other information concerning the intentions, plans, future action and future successes of the Company, and its businesses, technologies and products described herein. Forward-looking statements are based upon the opinions and expectations of management of the Company as at the effective date of such statements and, in certain cases, information provided or disseminated by third parties. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, and that information obtained from third party sources is reliable, they can give no assurance that those expectations will prove to have been correct. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements included in this document, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which the forward-looking statements are based will occur. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not occur, which may cause actual results in future periods to differ materially from any estimates or projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, risk factors set forth in the Company’s most recent management’s discussion and analysis, a copy of which is filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, and readers are cautioned that the risk factors disclosed therein should not be construed as exhaustive. These statements are made as at the date hereof and unless otherwise required by law, the Company does not intend, or assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/118036

Fintech

Central banks and the FinTech sector unite to change global payments space

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The BIS, along with seven leading central banks and a cohort of private financial firms, has embarked on an ambitious venture known as Project Agorá.

Named after the Greek word for “marketplace,” this initiative stands at the forefront of exploring the potential of tokenisation to significantly enhance the operational efficiency of the monetary system worldwide.

Central to this pioneering project are the Bank of France (on behalf of the Eurosystem), the Bank of Japan, the Bank of Korea, the Bank of Mexico, the Swiss National Bank, the Bank of England, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. These institutions have joined forces under the banner of Project Agorá, in partnership with an extensive assembly of private financial entities convened by the Institute of International Finance (IIF).

At the heart of Project Agorá is the pursuit of integrating tokenised commercial bank deposits with tokenised wholesale central bank money within a unified, public-private programmable financial platform. By harnessing the advanced capabilities of smart contracts and programmability, the project aspires to unlock new transactional possibilities that were previously infeasible or impractical, thereby fostering novel opportunities that could benefit businesses and consumers alike.

The collaborative effort seeks to address and surmount a variety of structural inefficiencies that currently plague cross-border payments. These challenges include disparate legal, regulatory, and technical standards; varying operating hours and time zones; and the heightened complexity associated with conducting financial integrity checks (such as anti-money laundering and customer verification procedures), which are often redundantly executed across multiple stages of a single transaction due to the involvement of several intermediaries.

As a beacon of experimental and exploratory projects, the BIS Innovation Hub is committed to delivering public goods to the global central banking community through initiatives like Project Agorá. In line with this mission, the BIS will soon issue a call for expressions of interest from private financial institutions eager to contribute to this ground-breaking project. The IIF will facilitate the involvement of private sector participants, extending an invitation to regulated financial institutions representing each of the seven aforementioned currencies to partake in this transformative endeavour.

Source: fintech.globa

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TD Bank inks multi-year strategic partnership with Google Cloud

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TD Bank has inked a multi-year deal with Google Cloud as it looks to streamline the development and deployment of new products and services.

The deal will see the Canadian banking group integrate the vendor’s cloud services into a wider portion of its technology solutions portfolio, a move which TD expects will enable it “to respond quickly to changing customer expectations by rolling out new features, updates, or entirely new financial products at an accelerated pace”.

This marks an expansion of the already established relationship between TD Bank and Google Cloud after the group previously adopted the vendor’s Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) for TD Securities Automated Trading (TDSAT), the Chicago-based subsidiary of its investment banking unit, TD Securities.

TDSAT uses GKE for process automation and quantitative modelling across fixed income markets, resulting in the development of a “data-driven research platform” capable of processing large research workloads in trading.

Dan Bosman, SVP and CIO of TD Securities, claims the infrastructure has so far supported TDSAT with “compute-intensive quantitative analysis” while expanding the subsidiary’s “trading volumes and portfolio size”.

TD’s new partnership with Google Cloud will see the group attempt to replicate the same level of success across its entire portfolio.

Source: fintechfutures.com

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MAS launches transformative platform to combat money laundering

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The MAS has unveiled Cosmic, an acronym for Collaborative Sharing of Money Laundering/Terrorism Financing Information and Cases, a new money laundering platform.

According to Business Times, launched on April 1, Cosmic stands out as the first centralised digital platform dedicated to combating money laundering, terrorism financing, and proliferation financing on a worldwide scale. This move follows the enactment of the Financial Services and Markets (Amendment) Act 2023, which, along with its subsidiary legislation, commenced on the same day to provide a solid legal foundation and safeguards for information sharing among financial institutions (FIs).

Cosmic enables participating FIs to exchange customer information when certain “red flags” indicate potential suspicious activities. The platform’s introduction is a testament to MAS’s commitment to ensuring the integrity of the financial sector, mandating participants to establish stringent policies and operational safeguards to maintain the confidentiality of the shared information. This strategic approach allows for the efficient exchange of intelligence on potential criminal activities while protecting legitimate customers.

Significantly, Cosmic was co-developed by MAS and six leading commercial banks in Singapore—OCBC, UOB, DBS, Citibank, HSBC, and Standard Chartered—which will serve as participant FIs during its initial phase. The initiative emphasizes voluntary information sharing focused on addressing key financial crime risks within the commercial banking sector, such as the misuse of legal persons, trade finance, and proliferation financing.

Loo Siew Yee, assistant managing director for policy, payments, and financial crime at MAS, highlighted that Cosmic enhances the existing collaboration between the industry and law enforcement authorities, fortifying Singapore’s reputation as a well-regulated and trusted financial hub. Similarly, Pua Xiao Wei of Citi Singapore and Loretta Yuen of OCBC have expressed their institutions’ support for Cosmic, noting its potential to ramp up anti-money laundering efforts and its significance as a development in the banking sector’s ability to combat financial crimes efficiently. DBS’ Lam Chee Kin also praised Cosmic as a “game changer,” emphasizing the careful balance between combating financial crime and ensuring legitimate customers’ access to financial services.

Source: fintech.global

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