The SWIFT Institute Calls For Research Into Risks Faced By Third Party Payment Providers

The SWIFT Institute, an organisation founded in April 2012 which receives funding and secretariat services from global giant SWIFT, is calling for proposals for research into the risks – money laundering, terrorist financing, gambling, fraud and phishing – third party payment providers using virtual currencies such as Bitcoin face. The selected proposal will be awarded a EUR 15,000 grant with completed research and a working paper to be submitted by August 2015.

The SWIFT Institute hopes the research will address the following questions:

  • What is the status of the global third-party payments industry? Who are the players? What are the differing types of players? What technologies are used to facilitate third-party payments, whether independently or in cooperation with banks (e.g. mobile, NFC, distributed ledger, etc.)?
  • What role does the third-party payments industry play in the development of a country’s e-commerce and macro-economy? What is its position in the overall global economy?
  • What are the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing in the third-party payment industry? What measures already exist to mitigate these risks?
  • What is the role of regulation in the third-party payments industry? What legislation exists to mitigate the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing in the industry and what are the shortfalls? How do / should regulators coordinate with each other to provide effective regulation across borders? How can third-party payment providers comply with regulations that may differ from one country to another?
  • From an emerging economy like China where third-party payments are proliferating, what lessons can be learned relating to AML / CFT?
  • What non-legislative measures exist to help strengthen the AML / CFT capabilities of third-party payment providers? What is still required? What role, if any, does business intelligence based on big data and cloud computing have?

The call for proposals also made a subtle reference to Charlie Shrem's imminent imprisonment, saying:

The fast development of third-party payments has greatly facilitated business and improved quality of livelihood, thereby helping to boost overall development of the economy. Regulatory requirements relating to third-party payment providers, however, have been slower to develop. Providers in this space are not (usually) deemed to be banks, and are therefore not subject to full banking regulations. Changes are being seen, however, such as the recent proposal in the United States by the CSBS (Conference of State Bank Supervisors) of a regulatory framework for virtual currency activities. A prison sentence was also recently handed out to a former Bitcoin Foundation board member for involvement in an unlicensed money transmitting business.

The full document is available here.

One thought on “The SWIFT Institute Calls For Research Into Risks Faced By Third Party Payment Providers

  1. By the time this research is done and the papers written, it will be too late. Even if it were to be published tomorrow, it would make no difference. Bitcoin as a global force will be de-facto the standard way money is moved globally, and it will be done without AML/KYC, for any and all purposes, and without all the other illusory, absurd, ridiculous anti-human garbage these people bow down to.

    Who are these people, exactly? Why does their opinion count for anything, and why should anyone pay attention to them? The fact of the matter is that these people are nobodies; they do not write software, and therefore do not have a say in how things are done in the world, whether that be in Bitcoin or anything else.

    These people are inert passengers, isolated witnesses, impotent observers, and nothing more. What they say is nothing but warm air; it cannot change software or stop people from using it. They can no more stop Bitcoin by writing a report than they can stop the Earth from spinning by doing the same.

    This is the sea change that none of these State educated types can understand. Their boxed in mentalities make it impossible for them to see beyond yesterday's news out of the Financial Times or some other mainstream outlet. This is a great advantage to all developers; it means they cannot possibly keep up with the rapid pace of new services and software, and it will only dimply seep into their consciousnesses after a computer illiterate hack at the New York Times runs a threadbare piece on the latest threat to Democracy.

    Anyone who understands what has been happening over the last thirty years can see the inevitability of Bitcoin's total domination and the end of the Statists and their disgusting, murderous, poverty spreading nightmare system.

    There is no way they can win this. The pressure causing Bitcoin to suceed is coming from every side. Take for one example, Apple banning Blockchain and other Bitcoin apps.

    Apple cannot ban Bitcoin apps because they know that doing so will push people to Android forever as Bitcoin begins to replace fiat currency. Apple will fight for the right to distribute free Bitcoin wallets rather than suffer a blow to their adoption rates.

    Android users cannot be prevented from installing Bitcoin wallets. Even if the State manages to corrupt Apple and get them to ban Bitcoin wallets, Android users cant be controlled in this way. Then there are the desktop wallets, web wallets, web services, keyfobs and other hardware products.

    This is a perfect example of how Bitcoin wallets will get into everyone's hands, no matter what anyone wants. It is inevitable and unstoppable. These little think tanks run by imagination-less MBAs are nothing more than a puff of smoke to be fanned away, and they are just as substantial.

    The fact that their only response is endless analysis and no recommendations is a sign that they are hopelessly out of their depth.

    Good riddance to bad rubbish.

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