Dialogue with the Regulators: Navigating Blockchain & Fintech Across Europe

What our blockchain compliance forum is about and why it should be on your list of blockchain conferences to attend in 2020

By Vanessa Malone

Worldwide annual spending on blockchain solutions has nearly tripled since 2017. Forecasts suggest that spending will continue to grow to an estimated $16 billion by 2023.

The biggest sector accounting for this spend goes to — the financial sector.

Let’s give a round of applause to the banks, investment companies, real estate firms, and the blockchain technology companies surrounding the financial industry for moving blockchain research and adoption forward in 2020.

While this surge is great, there are definitely some road blocks keeping blockchain adoption from realizing its true potential. One of the biggest road blocks is regulatory uncertainty.

There are big outstanding questions on how digital asset marketplaces, for cryptocurrency and digital securities alike, should be regulated.

What’s frustrating for everyone is that the complexity and lack of regulatory clarity is stifling development for those who want to do right by the law, simply because the laws may not exist yet or because regulators may not understand the new tech.

So how do we get there as an industry — we create open dialogues to better understand both sides’ concerns and ideas in order to move forward together on actionable solutions.

The uncertainty around blockchain compliance isn’t a U.S. issue, it’s a global issue, and Horizon is looking forward to expanding the dialogue to Europe.

This week we announced that registration is open for the second event in Horizon’s speaker series, Dialogue with the Regulators: Navigating Blockchain & Fintech Across London, taking place Thursday, March 19th at RSM UK in London!

Dialogue with the Regulators London follows our New York forum which brought together senior regulators from the SEC, FINRA, and CFPB along with key industry leaders for an intimate and productive dialogue surrounding key blockchain compliance challenges and opportunities.

The forum will bring together government and industry leaders from around Europe to debate timely topics surrounding blockchain, fintech, compliance, and the evolution of capital markets.

Why Europe?

The regulatory challenges facing Europe are complex given regional variations in interpreting and implementing rules across various countries and jurisdictions. Despite the aim towards harmonization post 2008 financial crisis, uncertainty of the impact Brexit will have on policy and regulatory standards across Europe remains.

As the Second Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MIFID II), the Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) come into 2020 full force, they present substantial cross sector impact.

The region has led advances in blockchain technology around the world, with a supportive regulatory environment helping to provide fertile ground for innovation. As overall fintech solutions evolve, the regulatory landscape will face enormous challenges in keeping up with technology disruption.

This is why we’re creating the space to receive direction from the experts.

Confirmed speakers include:

• Andrew Churchill, Standards Director and Lead Author of the British Standards Institute (BSI) Code of Practice on Digital Identification & Authentication under the MIDAS Alliance task force
• Iana Vidal, Head of Policy and Government Affairs at Innovate Finance
• Thomas Naegle, Attorney, software developer, and Co-author of the Liechtenstein Blockchain Act
• Jenny Knott, Venture capital investor for early stage fintech companies and top innovator in financial technologies
• Marta Belcher, Attorney and blockchain law pioneer
• & more to be announced

Topics:

• Blockchain Innovation within Europe’s Legal and Regulatory Framework
• Digital Asset Investment and Exchange Platforms: Adoption, Governance, and Interoperability Considerations
• Financial Crimes in Open Finance

We hope you’ll join us as we explore the path for the future as blockchain, cryptocurrency and regtech gain traction in the global economy.

Dialogue with the Regulators is designed for C-Level Executives, compliance officers, financial service companies and blockchain/fintech industry leaders. Dialogue with the Regulators is an invitation-only event with a limited number of tickets to promote meaningful connections. At the regulators’ request, no press will be allowed to attend. For speaker, sponsorship, and attendance inquiries, please visit https://www.horizon-globex.com/events/DWRLondon