From crypto assets to stablecoins – What is the appropriate policy response?

Crypto assets and newer applications around stablecoins offer huge benefits. They are scalable, reduce transaction costs, and increase speed and efficiency. At the same time, they potentially raise significant questions for policy makers both in Europe and globally. These concerns related to financial stability, regulatory and supervisory oversight, system integrity and consumer protection. Central banks are also closely watching whether there could be an impact on monetary policy. Within the EU, the European Commission has committed to propose specific legislation. This panel will discuss the possible role of crypto assets and stable coins for financial services markets and explore what might be the appropriate policy response.

Can this issue be addressed at European level or do we need a global policy approach?

How should any policy response balance possible concerns with the efficiency gains of this new technology?

Should any policy response be tailored to the underlying function and risk of particular use case of crypto assets and stablecoins? Should the rules, for example, differentiate between back-office vs customer-facing applications?

Should policy makers regulate the underlying DTL technology or the specific applications to financial services (payments, investments or others) or both?

Should central banks develop their own stablecoin applications? Are we moving to the e-euro?

What is Libra teaching us?

Siân Jones

Founder, European Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology Forum (EDCAB)

Moderator

Andris Strazds

Adviser, International Relations and Communication Department, Bank of Latvia

Tom Mutton

Director of Fintech, Bank of England

Yuko Kawai

General Manager for Europe and Chief Representative in London, Bank of Japan

Pēteris Zilgalvis

Head of Unit, Blockchain and Digital Innovation, DG CONNECT, European Commission

Sharon Yang

Deputy Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of the Treasury

Jason A. Mahoney

Special Counsel, Office of International Affairs, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)

More about the speakers

Linda Strazdina

Senior Consultant

Linda covers FinTech policy, cryptoassets and stablecoins, cloud technology and blockchain, Digital Single Market, CMU and competition policy.

Before joining Afore Consulting, she was in the Cabinet of the European Commission’s Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis. Linda previously worked in the Permanent Representation of Latvia on Institutional Affairs during the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the EU. She is a graduate of the European College in Bruges, Science Po and the University of Maastricht. Linda is Latvian and speaks English, Spanish and French.

Derville Rowland

Director General, Financial Conduct

Derville Rowland is Director General (Financial Conduct) at the Central Bank of Ireland with responsibility for consumer protection; securities and markets supervision; enforcement; and policy and risk.

She is a member of both the Board of Supervisors and the Management Board of the European Securities and Market Authority (ESMA), while she also represents the Central Bank of Ireland on the Board of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).

Prior to her appointment as Director General in September 2017, Derville was the Director of Enforcement in the Central Bank, where she established and developed the Enforcement Directorate.

In her earlier career, Derville gained extensive litigation and regulatory experience while practising law at the bar and working as in-house regulatory counsel.

Derville is a qualified barrister having being called to the bar in 1996 (Inns of Court School of Law; Inner Temple) and subsequently in 2003 (Kings Inns Dublin).

Yuko Kawai

General Manager for Europe and Chief Representative in London, Bank of Japan

Ms Kawai joined Bank of Japan in 2003 and had served as Kochi branch manager, Head of Foreign Exchange Division, Chief Representative in Hong Kong and also held various roles in the Financial Markets and in the Financial System and Bank Examination Department.

Prior to her current position, shw was the Head of FinTech Centre, which aims to conduct research and to facilitate the information amongst practitioners, researchers and other related parties both outside of and within the Bank for FinTech and the associated subjects. Previously, she worked in JPMorgan/Chase/Chemical bank group in the financial market division, most notably dealing derivatives products, and subsequently at RPTech, an independent think tank, as a research director.

She has an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and an LL.B from Kyoto University.

Christopher Buttigieg

Chief Officer Strategy, Policy and Innovation, Malta Financial Services Authority

Dr Christopher P. Buttigieg was appointed Chief Officer Strategy, Policy and Innovation after 4 years heading the Securities & Markets Supervision. During his tenure as Head of Securities and Markets supervision, Dr Buttigieg was responsible for work in the field of policy, regulation and supervision of securities, markets and FinTech. He joined the Authority in 2000 as Manager in the Investment Services Unit and has gained professional experience in various areas of financial regulation, supervision, the investigation of market misconduct and the enforcement of sanctions.

Dr Buttigieg was responsible for implementing various pieces of EU legislation in the field of securities and markets and has led different regulatory and supervisory teams within the Authority. He sits on the Authority’s Supervisory Council and represents the MFSA at various European Fora on financial regulation and supervision. He is the MFSA’s alternate member on the ESMA Board of Supervisors and is the Chair of the ESMA Data Standing Committee.

Dr Buttigieg is a lecturer in the Banking and Finance Department of the University of Malta and has published various papers on financial regulation and supervision in academic and professional journals.

For a period of two years, up to April 2015, Dr Buttigieg was a director on the board of the Malta Resources Authority, Malta’s energy regulator. In 2015, the President of Malta appointed Dr Buttigieg as a member on the board of the Fund for Voluntary Organisations. Dr Buttigieg is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Academy of European Law (Trier).

Fausto Parente

Executive Director of the European Insurance and
Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA)

Fausto Parente is the Executive Director of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA). In his role, he presides over the day-today management of EIOPA. Mr. Parente was elected by the Board of Supervisors of EIOPA on 28 January 2016. His nomination followed an open selection procedure and a public hearing at the European Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. On 9 March 2016 the European Parliament confirmed his appointment. Mr Parente has a distinguished career in supervisory regulations and policies at national and international level. Prior to his current role he was Head of the Supervisory Regulation and Policy Directorate at the Italian Insurance Supervisor, IVASS – Istituto di Vigilanza sulle Assicurazioni.

He was the Alternate Member in EIOPA Board of Supervisors and member of the Advisory Technical Committee of the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB). In the context of the Italian Chairmanship in the EU Council (second half of 2014), Mr Parente chaired the Council's working group on Insurance Mediation Directive negotiations. In 2011-2016 he chaired the Insurance Group Supervision Committee of EIOPA and in 2015-2016 - the Joint ESAs Committee on Financial Conglomerates. For several years he was an alternate member in the Technical and Financial Stability Committees of the International Association of Insurance
Supervisors (IAIS).

Mr Parente has a degree in Economics from the University Federico II, Naples, and he is graduated to practice as a certified accountant and financial analyst. He has attended many post-graduate courses in the fields of management, European Community law, economy and finance of insurance undertakings. He is author of a series of publications on insurance supervision.

José Manuel Campa

Chairperson of the European Banking Authority (EBA)

José Manuel Campa, is the Chairperson of the European Banking Authority (EBA). He was appointed in March 2019 and is serving a renewable five-year term. He represents the Authority and by chairing the meetings of the Board of Supervisors and of the Management Board, he steers the strategic direction of the Authority.

From 2015 and prior to this appointment, Campa served as Global Head of Regulatory Affairs, for the Grupo Santander. Prior to that, he was Professor of Finance and Economics at IESE Business School.

Between 2009 and 2011, Campa served as Secretary of State for the Economy in the Ministry of Economy and Finances of Spain. He was a member of the Financial Stability Board, the board of the European Financial Stability Facility, the Economic and Financial Committee and alternate governor in multilateral financial institutions. He has served in the Expert Group, chaired by Mr. Erkki Liikanen, evaluating policy recommendations on structural reforms for the European Banking industry.

He has also taught at the Stern School of Business of New York University and at Columbia University. He has been Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and Research Fellow at the Center for Economic Policy Research. Mr. Campa has also been a consultant to a large number of international organizations, including the International Monetary Fund, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Bank of International Settlements in Basel, and the European Commission.

He has served on the boards of Prime Collateralised Securities (PCS) Europe, Bruegel, and General de Alquiler de Maquinaria.

José Manuel Campa holds a Ph.D. and a master degree in economics from Harvard University and a Licenciatura in law and in economics from the Universidad de Oviedo.

Carmine Di Noia

Commissioner at the Italian Securities and Exchange Commission (Consob)

Carmine Di Noia is the Commissioner at the Italian Securities and Exchange Commission (Consob).

He is also an Alternate member of the Board of Supervisors at ESMA, the Chair of the Committee of Economic and Markets' Analysis at ESMA and the Deputy Chair of the Corporate Governance Committee at OECD.

Before joining Consob, Carmine Di Noia was Deputy Director General and Head of Capital Markets and Listed Companies at Assonime (the Association of the Italian Corporations), and he served two tenures as a member of the Securities and Markets Stakeholders Group at the European Securities and Markets Authorities (ESMA). He was also member of the board of directors of the Italian Stock Exchange (Borsa Italiana Spa).

He was appointed to various expert groups selected by the European Commission, including the ESME (European Securities Market Expert) Group, the Clearing and Settlement Advisory Monitoring Expert Group (CESAME) (2005-06), the Forum Group on Auditors Liability (2005-06), the Securities Expert Group on Financial Services Action Plan (2003-04). He was also member of the Consultative Working Group on Market Abuse of CESR (The Committee of European Securities Regulators).

He was chairman of the Policy Committee of EuropeanIssuers and member of the Legal Committee of EALIC (the European Association of Listed Companies). He was member of the working group that drafted the new version of the Italian Corporate Governance Code.

He received a Ph.D. in Economics at the University of Pennsylvania (USA) and a doctorate in Economic Theory at the University “Tor Vergata” of Roma, Italy.

Kirston Winters

Managing Director, Co-head of Product Management for MarkitSERV, IHS Markit

Kirston Winters is managing director at IHS Markit and co-head of product management for MarkitSERV, the largest, global service for processing OTC derivatives trades. He is also responsible for MarkitSERV’s cross asset real-time public and regulatory transaction reporting service which launched in 2011 and heads product management for our MiFID II offering.

Prior to joining the firm in 2009, Kirston served as Director of Business Development at the DTCC Deriv/SERV LLC subsidiary of the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC). Early in his career, he worked at Barclays Capital where he held various roles in OTC derivatives. Kirston holds a BSc in economics from the University of Manchester.

Jean Paul Servais

Chairman of the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA)

Jean-Paul Servais is the chair of the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA), the Belgian supervisory authority for financial markets, products and conduct.

Internationally, he holds mandates as vice chair of the IOSCO Board, as well as chairman of the IOSCO European Regional Committee, the Audit Committee of IOSCO-OICV and IFRS Foundation Monitoring Board.

He is also a board member of several international supervisory bodies for the financial sector: ESMA, ESRB, and the College of Euronext Regulators. Within ESMA, he chairs the Financial Innovation Standing Committee (FISC).

He obtained a Master of Law (Master en droit) from the ULB and a Master of Economics in Business Management (Master in de economie, bedrijfskunde) from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB).

Thomas Lillelund

CEO Europe, Middle East & Africa at AIG

Mr. Thomas Lillelund has been CEO for Europe at AIG since November 1st, 2018.

Before joining AIG, he was the Chief Executive Officer of Aspen Re based in London since May 2016 and prior to this role the Managing Director of Aspen Re In Asia Pacific since 2008. Mr. Lillelund spent four and a half years at AIG in Southeast Asia where he was the Regional Vice President for Commercial Property. He held underwriting management roles at Swiss Re in Hong Kong and South Africa and began his underwriting career at Gen Re in the United States in 1995. In this role he undertook further study to become an Associate in Reinsurance (ARe) of the American Institute for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters.

Mr. Lillelund served as the Chairman of the Singapore Reinsurance Association (SRA) from 2014 to 2016 and was a member of the Board of the Singapore College of Insurance from 2015 to 2016. He was also on the organising committee for the Singapore International Reinsurance Conference (SIRC) during this period.

He holds a Bachelors of Arts in Economics from the The College of William & Mary in Virginia and an MBA from the Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario.

Peter Kerstens

Adviser, DG FISMA, European Commission and Co-Chair of the FinTech Task Force, European Commission

Peter co-chairs the Taskforce on financial technology and is the Advisor for financial sector cybersecurity at the European Commission’s DG for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union.

He joined the European Commission in 1996. He has extensive experience in EU policy and legislation in a range of areas through his work on the ESPRIT research programme, in health and consumer protection, e-commerce, single market and financial services policy and regulation. Peter has also been a Member of the Private Offices of Internal Market and Services Commissioner Charlie McCreevy and Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner David Byrne. From 2008 until 2013 he was the Finance Counsellor at the EU Delegation to the USA in Washington DC.

Prior to joining the European Commission, Peter worked as a public affairs consultant in Brussels advising major financial services companies on EU affairs.

He holds a masters degree in European affairs from the College of Europe in Bruges and a masters degree in political science from the University of Leuven, Belgium.

He is a Dutch national.

Steven Maijoor

Chair, European Supervisory and Markets Authority

Steven Maijoor has been the Chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) since April 2011. He is the first chair of the Authority and is currently serving his second five-year term. He is responsible for representing the Authority as well as chairing ESMA’s Board of Supervisors and the Management Board. The role of the Board of Supervisors is to give strategic guidance to ESMA and make all main regulatory and supervisory decisions. The Management Board’s purpose is to ensure that the Authority carries out its mission and performs its tasks.

Prior to taking up this role, Steven was Managing Director at the AFM, the Dutch financial markets regulator, where he was responsible for capital market supervision, including financial reporting and auditing, prospectuses, public offerings, and the supervision of the integrity of financial markets.

Before joining the regulatory world, Steven was the Dean of the School of Business and Economics at Maastricht University, and had pursued a long career in academia, which included a variety of positions at Maastricht University and the University of Southern California.

He holds a PhD in Business Economics from Maastricht University, was a research student at the London School of Economics, and has a master in Business Economics from the University of Groningen.

Nick Cook

Director of Innovation, UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)

Nick is the first Director of the newly created Innovation division at the FCA. Nick is accountable for leading the FCA’s RegTech initiatives, its data and analytics strategy, machine learning endeavours, and Innovate activities (including regulatory sandbox, Global Financial Innovation Network, Green FinTech challenge, and direct support). Nick represents the FCA on the European Securities and Markets Authority’s (ESMA) Financial Innovation Standing Committee and is an advisor to the RegTech for Regulators Accelerator Programme (R2A). Nick joined the Financial Services Authority (the FCA’s predecessor) in 2009, initially in its Enforcement and Market Oversight Division. Prior to joining the regulator, Nick qualified as a chartered accountant at KPMG Forensic.

Steve Purser

Member of several Steering Boards and Advisory Committees

Steve Purser was born in the UK and currently has joint UK and Belgian nationality. He attended the universities of Bristol and East Anglia where he obtained a BSc. in Chemistry and a PhD in Chemical Physics respectively. He started work in 1985 in the area of software development and systems integration, subsequently progressing to project management and consultancy roles. From 1993 to 2008, he occupied the role of Chief Information Security Officer for a number of financial institutions. He joined ENISA in December 2008 and is currently responsible for all operational activities of the Agency.

Steve is currently a member of several Steering Boards and Advisory Committees, including notably the Steering Board of the CERT EU, the Programme Board of the EU Cyber Crime Centre and the Euro Cyber Resilience Board. In the area of standards, he is the ENISA representative on the ISO SC 27 working group. As Head of Core Operations, he regularly represents ENISA in international conferences on information security.

He was a co-founder of the 'Club de Securité des Systèmes Informatiques au Luxembourg' (CLUSSIL) and has frequently published articles in the specialised press. He is also the author of 'A Practical Guide to Managing Information Security' (Artech House, 2004).

Vilius Šapoka

Minister of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania

On 13 December 2016, Mr Vilius Šapoka was appointed as Minister of Finance following the decision by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. Mr Šapoka also became Governor of the European Investment Bank for the Republic of Lithuania.

Before his appointment as Minister of Finance, Mr Šapoka held the position of Director of the Financial Services and Markets Department, Central Bank of the Republic of Lithuania.

He served as Vice-Chairman, Chairman and Commissioner for the Lithuanian Securities Commission from 2006 to 2012.

Mr Šapoka held various positions in the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania from 2002 to 2006 including Deputy Unit Head, Chief Specialist and Senior Specialist.

From 1999 to 2001, Mr Šapoka worked as Analyst and Head of Client Service Division for the Lithuanian Savings Bank.

Mr Šapoka holds a Master of Economics in Banking from the Vilnius University and an International Executive Master of Business Administration from the Baltic Management Institute.

Pēteris Zilgalvis

Head of Unit for Digital Innovation and Blockchain in the Digital Single Market Directorate in DG CONNECT

Pēteris Zilgalvis is the Head of Unit for Digital Innovation and Blockchain in the Digital Single Market Directorate in DG CONNECT and is the Co-Chair of the European Commission FinTech Task Force. He was nominated on the list of CoinDesk’s Most Influential People in Blockchain 2017.

He was the Visiting EU Fellow at St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford for 2013-14, where he is an Associate of the Political Economy of Financial Markets Programme. From 1997 to 2005, he was Deputy Head of the Bioethics Department of the Council of Europe, in its Directorate General of Legal Affairs.

In addition, he has held various positions in the Latvian civil service (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Environment). He was Senior Environmental Law Advisor to the World Bank/Russian Federation Environmental Management Project and was Regional Environmental Specialist for the Baltic Countries at the World Bank. He has been a member of the California State Bar since 1991, completed his J.D. at the University of Southern California, his B.A. in Political Science Cum Laude at UCLA, and the High Potentials Leadership Program at Harvard Business School.

A recent publication of his is “The Need for an Innovation Principle in Regulatory Impact Assessment: The Case of Finance and Innovation in Europe” in Policy & Internet.

Tatiana Panova

Head of the Capital Markets Union Unit in DG FISMA

Tatyana Panova is the Head of the Capital Markets Union Unit in DG FISMA.

Prior to this, Tatyana headed another unit in DG FISMA and served in the private office of Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis where she was responsible for Capital Markets Union, securities markets, asset management, insurance, free movement of capital and competition.

Before joining the Cabinet, Tatyana was a Deputy Head of the Securities Unit in DG FISMA. In her previous jobs, Tatyana coordinated the preparation of ECOFIN, COREPER II and Economic and Financial Committee in DG MARKT and managed aviation anti-trust cases in DG COMP.

Prior to joining the Commission in February 2005, Tatyana worked in corporate advisory services of Ernst&Young, as well as held internships with both the European Central Bank and European Commission. Tatyana is a trained economist with specialisation in financial services.

Andris Strazds

Adviser, International Relations and Communication Department, Bank of Latvia

Andris Strazds has been Adviser to the International Relations and Communication Department of Latvijas Banka since 2014. Currently he is also a Member of the European Council on Foreign Relations and part-time faculty member at the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga. Prior to his work at Latvijas Banka, he was Chief Economist at the Latvian Branch of Nordea Bank Finland Plc. and Transactions Manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers Ltd. Andris holds a Master’s degree in international economics and business from the Stockholm School of Economics.

From crypto assets to stablecoins – What is the appropriate policy response?

Can this issue be addressed at European level or do we need a global policy approach?

How should any policy response balance possible concerns with the efficiency gains of this new technology?

Should any policy response be tailored to the underlying function and risk of particular use case of crypto assets and stablecoins? Should the rules, for example, differentiate between back-office vs customer-facing applications?

Should policy makers regulate the underlying DTL technology or the specific applications to financial services (payments, investments or others) or both?

Should central banks develop their own stablecoin applications? Are we moving to the e-euro?

What is Libra teaching us?

Siân Jones

Andris Strazds

Tom Mutton

Yuko Kawai

Pēteris Zilgalvis

Sharon Yang

Jason A. Mahoney

Linda Strazdina

Derville Rowland

Yuko Kawai

Christopher Buttigieg

Fausto Parente

José Manuel Campa

Carmine Di Noia

Kirston Winters

Jean Paul Servais

Thomas Lillelund

Peter Kerstens

Steven Maijoor

Nick Cook

Steve Purser

Vilius Šapoka

Pēteris Zilgalvis

Tatiana Panova

Andris Strazds

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