Weekly TechREG EMEA: Big Tech Firms Faces New Online Platform Rules and Probes in Europe; ECB and BoE Raise Concerns About the Implementation of Crypto Regulation

This week, the EU parliament approved two landmark bills that will regulate online platforms, the Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act — but this didn’t stop regulators from opening new antitrust probes against Amazon and Delivery Hero. The European Central Bank urged national regulators to harmonize their different crypto rules before the recently approved MiCA is fully implemented. In the U.K., the resignation of Boris Johnson and more than 50 high-ranked public officials may delay the adoption of new rules surrounding stablecoins and Buy Now, Pay Later.

Crypto

ECB Says Patchy EU Crypto Regulations Raise Risks

The European Central Bank (ECB) is concerned about the different crypto regulations across EU member states and urged them to harmonize the different rules until the Markets in Crypto Asset Regulation (MiCA) becomes law and it is fully implemented.

The ECB is concerned about countries providing crypto-related licenses to traditional banks when there is not yet a pan-European framework in place. The central bank wants to discuss the need to unify the provision of these licenses across countries before MiCA is fully implemented.

French European Parliament Member Wants Binance Approval Regulatory Review

A French Member of the European Parliament (MEP) wrote a June 13 letter pushing for her country’s market regulator to review its approval of the Binance cryptocurrency exchange, saying a news report shined a light on potential money-laundering activity on the platform, Reuters reported Tuesday (July 5).

Aurore Lalucq, who is also a member of the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, wants regulators to justify their “incomprehensible” decision to register a Binance unit as a digital assets service provider, according to the report.

Bank of England Calls For Tougher Crypto Rules

The Bank of England said a $2 trillion plunge in the value of crypto assets underscores vulnerabilities in the market and the need for tougher law enforcement and regulation.

The central bank said crypto assets don’t pose a threat to the wider financial system yet, but they might in the future as they become more integrated into mainstream finance, according to meeting summary notes published Tuesday (July 5).

UK Treasury to Introduce Stablecoin Regulation Within Weeks

The U.K. Treasury is planning legislation to establish a regulatory system for stablecoins, to come as early as August, CoinDesk reported Wednesday (July 6).

Deputy BoE Governor Jon Cunliffe, speaking at the Qatar Centre for Global Banking and Finance’s annual conference, said the plans have been delayed by “recent events,” which could refer to the resignations of numerous government officials in the country, including Treasury chief Rishi Sunak and senior Treasury official Jon Glen.

Big Tech

EU Unveils Plan to Relax IPO Rules to Boost Deep Tech Funding

The European Union has published the European Innovation Agenda, a new plan that would help startups and scaleups in Europe to obtain private funding, have access to public markets or use stock options for employees, according to a Tuesday (July 5) press release.

The EU presented a list of 25 actions that would help increase the number of deep tech startups in Europe by attracting 45 billion euros (about $46.1 billion) from private investors. Deep tech is an umbrella term for advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain and quantum computing.

Big Tech May Not Feel Impact of EU’s New Online Rules Until 2024

After years in the making, on Tuesday, July 5, the EU Parliament approved in plenary session landmark legislation that will set comprehensive standards for regulating the digital space.

Now that the laws are approved, what’s next? Google, Amazon, Meta, Apple and other online platforms won’t need to rush to make any changes as they still have a few months to comply with the new rules and make adjustments to their business models, if needed. The implementation period varies between 6 and 15 months.

Amazon Faces Probe By UK Antitrust Watchdog Over Sales Practices

The United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is looking into whether Amazon “has a dominant position in the U.K. and whether it is abusing that position and distorting competition by giving an unfair advantage to its own retail business or sellers that use its services,” it announced in a Wednesday (July 6) press release.

The investigation, which will consider whether Amazon is offering preferential treatment to its own third-party sellers on the Amazon U.K. Marketplace, follows the European Commission’s examination of similar concerns for the world’s largest retailer.

EU Antitrust Regulators Raid Delivery Hero, Glovo

Germany’s Delivery Hero and its Spanish business Glovo were raided by European Union antitrust regulators, the online food ordering companies said Wednesday (July 6).

As Reuters reported, the raid came after the European Commission said online food and grocery delivery firms in two European nations were being investigated over concerns that they were in a cartel.

Irish Privacy Regulator Closer to Blocking Meta Data Transfers

Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) is closer to taking steps that could suspend data transfers from the European Union to the U.S. by Facebook and Instagram.

As Reuters reported Thursday (July 7), the privacy regulator handed down a provisional order in 2020 to bar the mechanism Facebook and Instagram owner Meta uses to transfer data on EU users to the U.S. after a court ruling declared the agreement invalid due to privacy concerns.

Politics

UK’s Boris Johnson Resignation May Delay Crypto, BNPL Legislation

The resignation of Boris Johnson as leader of the Tory party and Prime Minister in the U.K. may lead to a reshuffle of the cabinet and the need to fill key important positions in the government and other departments like the Treasury, which would risk affecting the adoption of new rules and legislation.

This is the case for the government’s plans to adopt crypto regulation, in particular stablecoin regulation, and a proposal to adopt new rules to regulate the Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) sector.

New EU Council President Prioritizes AI, Chips, Digital Identity Legislation

On July 1, the Czech Republic took over the presidency of the Council of the European Union from France — and for the next six months, it will set the priorities for the EU’s political agenda.

Unlike the French presidency, which focused on legislation that sought to control non-European companies operating in the EU like Big Tech firms and crypto asset providers, the Czech Republic will focus on new legislation that will make sure that EU companies have access to strategic raw materials and components and can operate on secure IT supply chains, and that the whole EU accelerates the digitalization and automation of its industry.

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