FinTech: Law and Regulation
Professional Certificate – 8 sessions
Online Classes
Date
Time
Provided by
The University of London (QMUL & UCL) and the American University of Technology LLM support program.
Course Description
This course will help you to understand what FinTech is, and will examine legal and regulatory aspects of technology-enabled developments in the areas of banking, payments and fundraising. It will also introduce you to blockchain, which is often held up as a signifier for innovation and is seen by many as the door to a distributed, decentralized internet. While some may argue that the promise of FinTech and blockchain is blindingly bright, regulators around the world are facing a heightened pressure to strike a sensible balance between, on the one hand, supportive space for innovation and, on the other hand, adequate consumer protection. In that context, this course also examines the main regulatory and compliance issues surrounding FinTech developments. Finally, the course also analyses the impact that the speed of technological change and the range of new entrants in the financial sector will have on the legal profession. As you will read in Module D, while lawyers should not feel threatened by these developments, it will not be possible for law firms to rise to the new challenges purely by looking within. Rather, lawyers will need to develop at least a basic understanding of technology, while law firms will have to move away from traditional decision-making structures and practices if they want to secure access and exposure to the technologies and skillsets required to operate successfully in the marketplace of the future.
The Course Is Composed of 4 Modules
Module A: Payments, Alternative financing and Crypto Assets
Module B: Blockchain and Distributed Ledgers
Module C: Regulatory issues
Module D: RegTech, SupTech, and LegalTech
About Module A ‘Payments, Alternative financing and Crypto Assets’
Module A explains what FinTech is, and examines legal and regulatory aspects of technology-enabled developments in the areas of banking, payments and fundraising – from open banking and alternative funding platforms, such as crowdfunding, to cryptoassets and initial coin offerings.
We will provide you with required study guides written by eminent UoL professors and leaders in the field, in addition to up-to-date reading materials, including articles and case laws. Students registered in the LLM program will receive additional textbooks and will be assisted with additional sessions focusing on past UoL-LLM examinations.
Lawyers, academics interested in human rights, members of national and international institutions involved in human rights issues.
Speaker
Founder & CEO at “the Hybrid LawTech Firm” empowered by Christiana Aristidou LLCTechnology Lawyer
President of the Technology Committee of the Cyprus Bar Association
Christiana Aristidou is an industry expert and thought leader who stands above subject-matter expertise and is an authority in her field. She is a passionate educator educating and training regulators, public authorities, incumbents, private organizations of all sizes, investors and entrepreneurs in Cyprus, the EU and internationally. A pioneer in the field of training course design, development and delivery, Christiana creates comprehensive training courses with innovative subject combinations and unique content, falling mainly in the intersection of Regulation, Business Law and Technology.
Christiana is a Business Technology Lawyer, CEO of “The Hybrid LawTech Firm”, empowered by Christiana Aristidou LLC, regulated by the Cyprus Bar Association. She has been practicing business and technology law for more than 24 years and has been involved in multijurisdictional and complex business and technology legal projects involving advanced and emerging technologies. Christiana has been advising major local and international players on digital transformation, innovative project financing, regulation, compliance. and has trained a great number of individuals, corporations, authorities and regulators.
She is the Director of SmartCity Business, a company that aims to create smart laws and business models that can be used by smart cities to assess what value they offer citizens by integrating ICT and emerging technologies into their infrastructure and services, enabling the acceleration of change from smart cities to smart societies. She is also a non-executive Director of Rhea Legal Tech, a company that offers AI, machine learning and automation solutions to the legal, regulatory and supervisory industries.
Christiana is the President of the CBA’s Technology Committee, a National Delegate to the ISO TC/307 Blockchain Committee actively contributing to Working Group 3 drafting standards on Smart Contracts and to Working Group 6 on Blockchain use cases. She is a member of ITU and has served in ITU-FG-DLTs. She is also a Certified International Legal Project Practitioner (IILPM), a member of the PMI Cyprus Chapter, an approved HRD Trainer, the Ambassador of European Legal Technology Association (ELTA) in Cyprus, and a Digital Transformation Specialist. Christiana is a co-founder, and, until recently, the Vice-Chair of the Cyprus Blockchain Association (CBA) which has recently merged with the Cyprus Blockchain Technologies (CBTs). She is currently a board member of CBTs and holds advisory and directorship positions in technology companies. Christiana is a regular speaker at local and international Law and Technology conferences.
Christiana holds a Bachelor’s in Law from the Kapodistrian University of Athens, three (3) LL.M degrees: 1. in Common Law, 2. International Commercial and Business Law (UEA-UK) and 3. Computers and Telecommunications Law (Queen Mary-UoL). She also holds a Certificate in International Commercial Arbitration (Cologne-Germany) and a certificate in Digital Currencies from the University of Nicosia.
Understanding FinTech
Regulatory Compliance in FinTech
Legal and Regulatory Analysis
Impact on Financial Sector
Blockchain Technology
Adapting to Technological Changes