Abstract:
The conference on Fintech Law and Regulation aims to bring together practitioners from financial institutions, legal professionals and consultants as well as high-profile regulators and worldwide known academics in the FinTech and innovation field to jointly consider the impact of technology on financial institutions and their regulation.
Technology is transforming finance around the world at an unprecedented rate, offering new opportunities but also raising new risks. Financial regulators must develop new approaches to regulation, including through the use of technology. Prior to the Global Financial Crisis of 2008, financial innovation was generally viewed very positively. Post-Crisis financial regulatory reforms have seen a reversal of this approach with the regulatory pendulum arguably swinging to the other extreme. Post-Crisis regulatory changes combined with increasingly rapid technological change have spurred the development of financial technology (“FinTech”). FinTech promises innovation and economic growth through disruption of traditional financial services businesses, yet it also poses a major challenge to the post-Crisis regulatory paradigm.
FinTech embraces new startups, established technological and e-commerce companies (which is referred to as “TechFins”) as well as incumbent financial firms. Financial regulators are increasingly seeking to balance the traditional regulatory objectives of financial stability and consumer protection with the objectives of growth and innovation, resulting in a process of regulatory innovation including the use of technology (“RegTech”) and changes to existing regulatory frameworks such as the establishment of regulatory sandboxes (safe havens in which firms test innovative technologies under regulatory exemptions).
The FinTech Law and Regulation conference organized by the ADA Chair in Financial Law / Inclusive Finance at the Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance in cooperation with Banque Internationale à Luxembourg (BIL) and the Luxembourg House of Financial Technology (LHOFT) addresses these regulatory issues. Bringing together the most eminent FinTech regulators – including from institutions such as the Financial Stability Board (FSB), the European Securities & Markets Authority (ESMA) and the Luxembourg CSSF – with the most widely considered FinTech law and regulation scholars to date provides the background for a fruitful conference discussing the status quo of the law as well as the foreseeable regulatory developments in light of the enhanced tech dependency of financial institutions.
Programme
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08.30 – 09.20
Welcome
- Jeffrey Dentzer, Head of Corporate & Institutional Banking, BIL
- Prof. Dirk Zetzsche, University of Luxembourg
- Nasir Zubari, CEO, LHoFT
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09.20 – 09.50
FinTech and Regulation – A Theoretical Analysis
Prof. Saule T. Omarova, Cornell University
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09.50 – 10.15
Coffee break
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10.15 – 12.15
Blockchain and Crypto assets
Moderator: Prof. Saule T. Omarova
Discussants:
- Blockchain and securities – the Luxembourg perspective, Honorary Professor Jean-Louis Schiltz, University of Luxembourg
- The Liechtenstein and Swiss Blockchain Legislation, Dr. Hans Kuhn, DALAW Digital Assets Legal Advisors
- Regulating Crypto Assets – New Developments from France, Dr. Iris Barsan, University Paris-Est Créteil (UPEC)
- Regulating Libra, Prof. Dirk Zetzsche, University of Luxembourg
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12.15 – 13.30
Lunch break
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13.30 – 15.30
Fintech, the GDPR and the Future of Financial Services (Law)
Moderator: Prof. Mark Cole
Discussants:
- Blockchain and GDPR, Dr. Michèle Finck, Max Planck Institute, Munich
- Algorithmic Credit Scoring and the Regulation of Consumer Credit Markets, Nikita Aggarwal, Oxford University
- The Case for a EU Regulatory Sandbox, Prof. Wolf-Georg Ringe, University of Hamburg
- Regulatory Sandboxes vs Innovation Hubs – The ADA Chair Regulatory Sandbox Project, Prof. Dirk Zetzsche & Robin Veidt, University of Luxembourg
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15.30 – 15.45
Coffee break
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15.45 – 17.15
Regulation Innovation
Moderator: Prof. Dirk Zetzsche
Discussants:
- The EBA Initiatives in the FinTech Domain, André Prüm, University of Luxembourg
- AML measures for crypto assets, Max Braun, Cellule de Renseignement
- Digital innovations in the area of market infrastructures and payments – a central bank perspective, Dr. Klaus Löber, European Central Bank
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17.15 – 17.30
Closing remarks
Prof. Dirk Zetzsche, University of Luxembourg
Presentations from the conference:
Partners:
