Fintech Horizons - August 2016

Welcome to Fintech Horizons, the Burges Salmon Fintech briefing. This edition covers the following topics:

• Key Themes from the Smart Contracts Templates Summit held by R3 and Barclays – In June, Burges Salmon Fintech was invited to attend the roundtable summit on Smart Contract Templates, where a range of challenges and opportunities were discussed by a number of presenters. In this article, Adrian Shedden reports on the key themes from the day.
• Intro to Smart Contracts – Through blockchain technology, smart contracts are set to revolutionise legal and commercial transactions – we offer an overview as to how this new technology works and what benefits it promises to deliver.
• EBA issues fresh opinion on Commission proposals to regulate virtual currencies – This month, the EBA has issued a related opinion on the EU Commission’s proposal to bring virtual currencies into the scope of the 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive and set out a number of recommendations.
• Cybercrime statistics: ONS publishes Crime Survey data – The most recent Crime Survey from the ONS reveals the estimated level of cybercrime in the UK for the first time. What do these figures mean and what can be done by businesses to prevent cybercrime?
• Privacy Shield: EU launches Safe Harbour replacement – The European Commission has adopted the EU-US Privacy Shield, a data protection pact negotiated to replace Safe Harbour and safeguard EU citizens' rights in relation to transatlantic data transfers.

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.