EMEA Daily: Irish Privacy Regulator Closer to Blocking Meta Data Transfers; Health Insurance Disruptor YuLife Raises $119M to Expand InsurTech

In today’s top news from Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), health insurance company YuLife raised nearly $120 million in funding, Banking-as-a-Service company Griffin is expanding its BaaS product development through new funds and Ireland’s Data Protection Commission is taking a closer look at Meta’s data privacy standards.

Health Insurance Disruptor YuLife Raises $119M to Expand InsurTech

London-based InsurTech startup YuLife has secured more than 117 million euros (about $119 million) in a Series C funding round to expand its global operations and scale its product range, EU-Startups.com reported.

The round was led by Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company, a new strategic investor in the company, the report stated. There was also participation from YuLife’s existing investors, including Creandum, LocalGlobe, Target Global, Latitude, Anthemis, OurCrowd, Notion, MMC and Eurazeo.

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).

This comes in the form of a partnership with the Bank of England (BoE), the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and other regulatory bodies.

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.

Griffin Bags $15.5M Investment to Grow BaaS

Banking as a Service (BaaS) startup, Griffin, has netted $15.5 million in fresh funding, the company announced Thursday (July 7).

The investment round was led by Notion Capital, with the participation of existing investor EQT Ventures, and several angel investors with a track record of investing in and growing FinTech startups. Griffin has now raised $27 million to date.

The new capital will be used to grow the company’s leadership and operation teams, and to invest in product development.

UK Antitrust Watchdog Scrutinizes Microsoft-Activision Deal

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the U.K.’s antitrust watchdog, is looking into Microsoft’s deal to buy Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, Reuters reported Wednesday (July 6), looking at whether this would cut competition in the country.

The deal, which was announced in January and would be the largest one in gaming history, would have to be looked into completely by Sept. 1 for a phase I decision.

“We’re committed to answering questions from regulators and ultimately believe a thorough review will help the deal close with broad confidence, and that it will be positive for competition,” said Lisa Tanzi, corporate vice president and general counsel of Microsoft.

Irish Privacy Regulator Closer to Blocking Meta Data Transfers

Reuters reported today that 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, having shared an updated draft order with other EU regulators.

The issue is an ongoing one as authorities across the EU probe Meta’s data transfer practices. After an initial order to bar the data transfer mechanism in 2020, the EU and U.S. formed a temporary transfer deal to allow data flow to continue, pending a final agreement.