Blockchain: Regulation and the Law 2019

Sofitel London St James
5 February 2019

On February 5, 2019, we gathered the world’s leading legal minds to discuss the future of law and regulation for distributed ledger technology across business, finance and industry. Purchase our conference report and scroll down to check out the highlights and videos from the day.

Highlights and Interviews

Youtube Video OnYGHhEA1ac

Blockchain: Regulation and the Law 2019

Youtube Video HS_FjHU3058

KEYNOTE INTERVIEW - Christina Blacklaws, The Law Society of England & Wales

Partners

SPEAKERS

Blockchain: Regulation and the Law 2019

Sofitel London St James
5 February 2019

Agenda at a glance

09:00 – 9:10

Welcome Address

Bridget Marsh, Executive Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of the Loan Syndications and Trading Association (LSTA)

 

09:10 – 09:40

Keynote: Blockchain – From Bitcoin to Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT)

The past year has seen blockchain being adopted more widely than ever before. While still strongly associated with cryptocurrencies, an increasing number of companies are working with blockchain for different applications. What does this mean for the way we look at technology and, through that, the way we do business?

Nadia Filali, Director of the Blockchain Pilot Programme, LaBChain, Caisse des Dépôts

09:40 – 10:20

Data Privacy vs Data Transparency

Blockchain offers unprecedented levels of insight and transparency into consumers’ and businesses’ behaviour and history. This transparency, however useful, defeats the object of current data privacy rules set out by the General Data Protection Regulation. Our panellists will provide an in-depth look at this conflict of interest, how it can be overcome and what the impact on current legislation could be.

Chair: Julian Cunningham-Day, TMT Partner, Global Co-head of Fintech & TMT Sector Leader, Linklaters

Speakers: Andrew Speers, Director - Product and Innovation, NatWest; Jags Rao, Director, Distributed Ledger Technology, Swiss Re; and Brian Gray, Advisor, Atlas City

10:20 – 10:40

Coffee and Networking

10:40 – 11:20

Present and Future of Regulation in the DLT Space

Blockchain proposes a clear and immediate decentralisation of data; also, the technology’s code is its law. Both these features make this technology hard, if not impossible, to regulate by a central body. Our panellists will discuss whether regulation is at all possible in the blockchain space and, if so, what and to what extent can and should it be regulated.

Chair: Ian Mason, Partner and Head of UK Financial Services Regulation, Gowling WLG

Speakers: Andrea Servida, Head of Unit "eGovernment and Trust" DG CONNECT, European Commission; and Myles Milston, CEO & Founder of Globacap

11:20 – 12:00

Smart Contracts and Automation

A central feature of blockchain technology is its ability to automate a number of simple steps. As such, contracts entered into by various parties can have substantial portions automated while others, possibly the most important ones, would not. Our panellists will look at how such contracts can be created, negotiated and enforced.

Chair: Mark Weston, Partner & Head of Information Technology, Intellectual Property and Commercial, Hill Dickinson LLP

Speakers: Alessandro Galtieri, VP Corporate Law, Group Data Protection Officer, Colt; Jason Rozovsky, Senior Counsel and Head of Legal Center of Excellence, R3, USA; and Jelena Madir, Director & Chief Counsel, EBRD

12:00 – 13:00

Fireside Chat: Opportunities and Risks of Blockchain for the Legal Profession

The use of distributed ledger technology is having an impact on the legal profession through automation. DLT is also used alongside other technologies, like artificial intelligence, to provide analysis and advice. Christina and Michael will explore these topics as they discuss the potential impact this technology could have on the legal profession, the way it is perceived of by practitioners, as well as the wider effect on current business models.

Christina Blacklaws, President, The Law Society of England and Wales, and Michael Pierson, Managing Partner, Global  Corporate, FisherBroyles LLP

13:00 – 14:15

Networking lunch

14:15 – 15:00

Keynote: Enterprise Blockchain at a Crossroads

Lee will explore adoption rates, prominent enterprise use cases as well as challenges and opportunities blockchain raises for business.

Dr. Lee Braine, Chief Technology Office, Barclays

15:00 – 15:40

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity is one of the key areas affected by blockchain technology – both positively and negatively.

The higher levels of transparency that blockchain provides gives security professionals the ability to devise better security software. However, the immutability of blockchain data means that systems cannot easily distinguish between correct and incorrect input or indeed between a legitimate change, a bug or a deliberate attack. Our panellists will discuss how blockchain-based systems can be configured to offer more security and how security compliance procedures and standards are and will be affected as a result.

Chair: Semyon Germanovich, Founder, Voltaire

Speakers: Adi Ben-Ari, Founder & CEO, Applied Blockchain; John Sheridan, Digital Director, National Archives, UK

15:40 – 16:00

Keynote: Disruptive Tools vs Humans: Why technology will never substitute genuine participation and connections

Technology as a means of increasing productivity has continuously impacted humanity from ancient history until now, and it will most likely continue to do so. At every major step in technological development, humans have fretted about being replaced by machines, a fear that has not come to fruition as people always found ways to remain relevant. As we embark on the 4th industrial revolution, of which blockchain is part and parcel, the same old fear re-surfaces in relation to automation and artificial intelligence. This presentation will explore these issues and will provide examples and ways of understanding how human impact on business systems will remain relevant and possibly even more so now than ever before.

Itzik Amiel, Attorney-at-Law, Bestselling Author, Founder & CEO ‘THE SWITCH’

16:00 – 16:20

Coffee and Networking

16:20 – 17:00

Blockchain and International Trade

International trade and supply chain management is possibly one of the most successful applications of distributed ledger technology outside of the financial industry. In this industry, DLT facilitates the authentication of raw materials, as well as documenting each step of the journey that commodities and products take from production to delivery. This panel will expand on existing business models and will discuss changes to the regulatory frameworks that have facilitated this rather early adoption.

Chair: Shawnna Hoffman, Global Cognitive Legal Co-Leader, IBM

Speakers: Joachim Møller Andersen, Chief Legal Counsel & Head of IT & Digital Law, Mærsk; and Sakhila Mirza, Executive Board Director and General Counsel, London Bullion Market Association

17:00 – 17:30

Closing Remarks: The Future of DLT

Bridget will close the day’s proceedings by addressing the questions of what the future holds for blockchain technology and what challenges and opportunities it raises for business and law.

Bridget Marsh, Executive Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of the Loan Syndications and Trading Association (LSTA)

17:30 Drinks Reception

Who & Why

What will the event cover?

Our inaugural Blockchain, Regulation and the Law event sets out to generate awareness of the legal disruption coming from developments in distributed ledger technology. Speakers will cover a range of topics including...

  • Joint control and distributed liability
  • Compliance with data privacy, electronic identification and trust services norms: GDPR and eIDEAS
  • The drafting and enforcement of smart contracts
  • Security, fraud prevention and audit: Know Your Customer (KYC) and Single Source of Truth (SSOT)
  • RFID / IoT compliance in international trade
  • Legal interoperability in diverging governance agreements

Additionally, the conference will analyse the wider legal implications of the technology, with a focus on current events and existing regulatory frameworks.

Why attend?

Attendees will gain a better understanding of developments in blockchain technology, and the subsequent impact this will have on your business, along with providing the opportunity to meet industry leaders, share your experiences, and build new business relationships.

Who should attend?

Senior in-housel counsel and lawyers with a particular focus on the following...

  • Trade, trade-finance, payments, banking
  • GDPR, IP, IT law
  • eIDAS, supply chain management
  • Trade and contracts
  • Security and fraud

 

ADVISORY BOARD

Bridget Marsh

Loan Syndications and Trading Association

Executive Vice President and Deputy General Counsel

Venue

Sofitel London St James

Sofitel London St James

Sofitel London St James United Kingdom 6 Waterloo Place London SW1Y 4AN
+44 (0)20 7747 2200