Fintech Horizons - May 2016

Welcome to Fintech Horizons, the Burges Salmon fintech briefing. This edition’s briefings cover the following topics:

• Building innovation in the sandbox – Following the launch of the latest stage in its “Project Innovation,” we provide an overview of the FCA’s most recent effort to strike a balance between regulation and innovation in the market.
• Brexit – a future outside of the EU is too uncertain to call… – We consider the potential outcomes for UK fintechs post-Brexit, and suggest practical preparatory steps ahead of June’s referendum.
• Cyber-crime: a guide to recognition, prevention and protection – From “Phishing” to “Whaling,” our guide to cybercrime untangles the most prevalent forms of modern cyber-crime. We highlight the potential risks (financially and otherwise) they pose to your business and seek to provide solutions to prevent and combat breaches.
• Is there still any point in owning a home through a company? – We consider the merits of ownership of UK residential property by corporate structures in light of changes to UK tax rules.  This may be of particular interest to those property crowdfunding firms holding property through corporate SPVs (which we have seen an increasing amount of in recent months!), though please note this piece was written from a personal taxation perspective and so there are likely to be subtle differences, for example on SDLT.
• Tackling Cyber-Crime and Promoting Innovation – We outline the latest initiatives within fintech and Financial Services, which seek to strengthen the UK’s strategy in identifying and managing the threat of cyber-crime.

If you would like further information on any of the topics above, please contact a member of the fintech team, or your usual lawyer at Burges Salmon.