Included in this issue of InContact: CMA to take enforcement action against secondary ticketing websites and broaden scope of investigation; Credit Suisse acquires majority stake in automated lender Tradeplus24; and more...

UK

CMA to take enforcement action against secondary ticketing websites and broaden scope of investigation

The Competition and Markets Authority has announced that it will take enforcement action against secondary ticketing websites suspected of breaching consumer protection law. This recent announcement comes as part of the CMA's investigation into the secondary ticketing sector. The CMA also announced it was widening the scope of this investigation to include a number of additional issues, including the practice of pressure selling and whether consumers face difficulties getting their money back under a website's guarantee. 

CMA, 28 November 2017

Worldwide

European Commission adopts Delegated Regulation on RTS on strong customer authentication and common and secure communication (SCA) under PSD2

European Commission adopted a Delegated Regulation and Annex supplementing the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) with regard to regulatory technical standards (RTS) for strong customer authentication (SCA) and common and secure open standards of communication (CSC). The Commission has also published a related press release, and a fact sheet with FAQs on the Delegated Regulation. The next step is for the Council of the EU and the European Parliament to consider the Delegated Regulation. If neither of them objects, it will enter into force on the day after it is published in the Official Journal of the EU (OJ). The Delegated Regulation will apply 18 months from the entry into force date, with the exception of Article 30(3) and (5), which will apply 12 months from the entry into force date.

EC, 27 November 2017

Credit Suisse acquires majority stake in automated lender Tradeplus24

Credit Suisse has acquired a majority stake in alternative finance startup Tradeplus24 and plans to offer the Zurich-based firm's lending platform to its own SME customers. Founded in March 2016, Tradeplus has developed a product that offers a way for SMEs and mid-market companies to increase their working capital and lend against account receivables. The A-1 financing round was led by SVC-Ltd, the venture capital investment vehicle owned by Credit Suisse and advised by Helvetica Capital AG.

FinExtra, 29 November 2017

European Commission report on SEPA Migration Regulation

The European Commission has published a report to the European Parliament and the Council of the EU on the application of the Single Euro Payments Area Regulation (SEPA Migration Regulation). The SEPA Migration Regulation set the end-date for migration from national credit transfer and direct debit payment instruments to SEPA credit transfers (SCT) and direct debits (SDD). In the euro area, this date was 1 February 2014; member states that do not belong to the euro area had until 31 October 2016 to migrate. The European Commission concludes that the SEPA Migration Regulation is correctly applied across the EU, overall, and currently there is no need for a follow-up legislative proposal.

European Commission, 23 November 2017