In co-operation with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, the Center for Financial Studies and the Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE (Sustainable Architecture for Finance in Europe), the Institute for Law and Finance successfully held its first virtual conference "A new EU Framework for Crypto-Assets: Implications for Europe's Financial Services Industry" on 2 October 2020.
The main spotlight of the conference was on the European Commission's proposals for an EU framework for crypto-assets (including the Digital Finance Strategy, the Regulation on markets in crypto-assets (MiCA) and the Regulation on a pilot regime for DLT-based market infrastructures) as well as related issues such as Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) and national developments such as the German draft law for electronic securities.
The conference commenced with Matthias Goldmann, Junior Professor for International Public Law and Financial Law, Goethe University of Frankfurt am Main and Markus Benzing, Partner, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, delivering the welcoming remarks and introducing the keynote speaker of the day, Jan Ceyssens, Head of Unit for Digital Finance, Directorate General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union (FISMA), European Commission. In his keynote speech "Crypto-Assets – Proposals for a Regulation of Markets in Crpyto-Assets", Mr. Ceyssens shed light on the European Commission's draft for a comprehensive regulation of "crypto assets" from the perspective of the European Commission.
The second lecture "Spotlight on European and German legislative proposals to advance a market in crypto assets" was presented by Georg Ringe, Professor and Director of the Institute of Law & Economics at the University of Hamburg, Visiting Professor at the University of Oxford, Faculty of Law.
After a short break, Fiona van Echelpoel, Deputy Director General, Market Infrastructure and Payments, European Central Bank talked about the ECB's point of view in her speech "A central bank perspective on crypto assets". She was followed by Ines Cieslok, Managing Director & Global Head of Recovery & Resolution Legal, State Street Bank International GmbH who spoke about "New level playing field and asset safety in a digital asset world".
The conference was closed by a panel discussion consisting of moderators Mark Wahrenburg, Professor and Chair of Banking and Finance, Matthias Goldmann, Markus Benzing and Janina Heinz, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, panelist Swen Werner, State Street Bank International GmbH and speakers Jan Ceyssens, Fiona van Echelpoel, and Georg Ringe.
During the streaming of the conference, participants were able to interact with speakers and moderators by raising questions through the chat.
You can access a recording of the conference here.
