Jai R. Massari

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Ms. Massari is a partner in Davis Polk's Financial Institutions Group and the trading and markets practice. [Full Bio]

After a several-year pause, the CFTC is again re-assessing its approach to cross-border regulation of swap activities. The CFTC’s current approach is embodied in various rulemakings, guidance, orders, and agreements with non-U.S. regulators that have been adopted, issued, and entered into since 2013. The CFTC has, over the past several…
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On October 11, 2018, the SEC reopened the comment period and requested additional comments for previously proposed rules relating to capital, margin, and segregation requirements for security-based swap dealers (“SBSDs”), major security-based swap participants (“MSBSPs,” and together with SBSDs, “SBS Entities”) and, in some…
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It is no secret that the United States lags behind other countries in the development of a national real-time payments infrastructure.[1]  There are, of course, explanations for this lag, including widespread participation in the existing infrastructure rails and the existence of many different stakeholder interests limiting consensus over reforms. …
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After a several month lull that led some to question the SEC’s focus on crypto enforcement, this week saw a spate of enforcement activity involving crypto assets: several SEC enforcement actions, an SEC trading suspension order, the first FINRA cryptocurrency enforcement action, and a preliminary court decision consistent with the…
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The FTC is expanding its enforcement efforts for fintech, particularly in the areas of online and small-business lending, payments, and cryptocurrencies.  At a recent event in Washington, D.C., the FTC’s Director of Consumer Protection, Andrew Smith, stated, “Commissioners are really interested in [fintech].  Finance will be a steady part of…
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The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has granted conditional approval to digital-banking startup Varo Bank (previously Varo Money) of its application to form a de novo national bank.  Varo Bank, N.A. would become the first mobile-only national bank in United States. This is an interesting…
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The ability of banks to sell the loans they originate is a core element in the development and sustainability of a nationwide lending market.  Recent legal developments threaten to undermine this ability, jeopardizing the foundation of a U.S. nationwide loan market and the core lending activities of banks.

A long-settled…
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In its recent report on financial innovation, the U.S. Treasury Department calls upon federal banking regulators to address the uncertainty in lending markets created by the Madden case and True Lender developments.

The Report recognizes that “unsecured consumer credit could be diminished because nonbank firms such as marketplace lenders may…
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The Federal Reserve’s current approach to determining whether a banking organization has control over another company for purposes of the Bank Holding Company Act can discourage fintech investments by banking organizations.  This impact was discussed in the Treasury Department’s report on nonbank financial institutions, fintech and innovation.  The report highlights…
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