A survey by Thomson Reuters in late April found that one in five financial institutions is considering cryptocurrency trading this year.

The survey was conducted among 400 plus clients across all of Thomson Reuters trading solutions including Eikon, REDI, and its FX platforms.

At the time of publishing the survey, approximately 70 percent of financial institutions said they were planning to trade in cryptocurrencies over the next three to six months, with an additional 22 percent planning to trade over the next six to 12 months. 

Thomson Reuters says findings indicate that cryptocurrency trading is more of a 2018 project than something longer-term.  The survey also found generally widespread familiarity with cryptocurrencies.  

“Cryptocurrency is still a relatively small part of the trading market, but this survey indicates this niche segment is starting to enter the mainstream of the financial services industry.  This is a major change from a year ago,” said Neill Penney, co-head of Trading, Thomson Reuters.

Early this month, it emerged that in Germany, at least six financial institutions are already trading in virtual currencies Reuters reports.

Cryptocurrency trading and other disruptive technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain are changing the landscape in which banks and financial institutions operate in and how they do business.

The question remains as to what happens when a financial crime is committed or when things go wrong? What are the risks and to what extent are banks and financial institutions responsible?

Ultimately, they are still responsible for their customers’ financial losses despite not being in full control of the workings of the technology behind their systems.

What are the legal issues at play and does regulation exist to give the Courts guidance when a crime is committed?

In addressing these issues, ICC Commercial Crime services is inviting members its 18th Annual CCS Economic Crime Lecture on Fintech, Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies – risks and realities to be held on 27th June 2018.

The lecture will focus on how Fintech products are threatening to change the way in which financial institutions service their customers and the profound implications these are bound to have on their policies aimed at anti-money laundering, fraud prevention and control of proceeds of crime and compliance.

“Many regulators have recognised that these technologies could add to compliance and transparency in financial services. Products backed by blockchain mechanisms have been offered as a faster, more reliable and less expensive way of recording financial transactions,” a CCS spokesman said.

“Related to this the concept of Open Banking has been introduced in the UK and European banking system. 

“Together these changes could have profound implications for policies aimed at anti-money laundering, fraud prevention and control of proceeds of crime and compliance in financial institutions and intermediaries.

“In addition, regulators and governments are seeking to monitor and regulate the growing use of cryptocurrencies,” the spokesman added.

The 2018 CCS Economic Crime Lecture will look at the risks in this emerging area, the solutions it offers, how realistic they are and what would be a practical timeline for them to be fully effective.

Speaker details
Peter Warrack is Chief Compliance Officer Bitfinex, formerly Director AML Advisory, Bank of Montreal. Peter was recruited to Canada by RBC following a career in law enforcement in the UK. In Canada he successfully built and pioneered RBC’s intelligence-led fraud prevention approach setting the standard for the “culture of intelligence” and intelligence-led analytics before specialising in AML. His contribution to the AML profession was recognised by his peers in 2011 when he received    the Association of Certified Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS) Professional of the Year Award. 

Places are still available but please register ASAP. RSVP: ccs@iccccs.org. Venue: Chartered Insurance Institute, 20 Aldermanbury, London EC2V 7HY.