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Linden Lab cracks down on Second Life Banks
In an announcement that has snuck on to the official Linden blog, Linden Lab has announced that anyone running a bank in Second Life will have to produce "proof of an applicable government registration statement or financial institution charter" or have their content removed starting in two weeks time. This follows the collapse of Ginko, which we covered in exhaustive detail, and complaints that several other banks have defaulted on their 'promises' and are still advertising unsustainably high interest rates (which is, of course, part of their attraction too).The wording affects anyone offering interest payments, which means, I believe it will also affect WSE's practises - they offer a low rate of interest on saved money, although a normal stock exchange business would still permissible since dividends aren't interest as I understand the law.It will be interesting to see if any of the banks survive this transition, and if they don't, what comes along in their place. It will also be interesting to see if there is a run on the banks now.
How legal are virtual banks and stock exchanges?
A recurring question, amid the forest of what might be legitimate failures and mismanaged enterprises or might just be scams, is just how legal are the banks and stock exchanges that operate alongside and inside various MMOs and Virtual Worlds such as Second Life. As seems to be usual with legal matters, a simple question doesn't yield a simple answer.
WSE issues again
Those of you who are following over from Second Life Insider will know that the Worlds Stock Exchange (WSE) has a long and spotty history. Including being hacked, announcements that criticise the system vanish, there are some odd seeming deals done, and the whole set up is, apparently, questionable at best under Australian Law.The latest part of the saga: Midas Bank has invested a chunk of its money in Hope Capital Bonds and Hope Capital, the owner of WSE has defaulted on payments worth over L$650,000, which is making Midas Bank struggle with a cash flow crisis. Last time we had one of those, Ginko Financial collapsed. Midas Commons, CEO of Midas Bank, proposed a boycott of WSE until such time as their due payments are made - a situation met with some support from other customers in this state. Given the previous history it is little surprise to find there are no announcements about Hope Capital Bonds not paying, but all the Midas Group stocks are suspended with a one line "pending an important announcement" statement. Where will this particular cash flow crisis end up, anyone care to guess?[Via SLReports]
