CFRED’s 11th LegalTech Seminar – FinTech Policies and Securities Regulation: Dealing with the Cryptocurrency Conundrum by Jonas Koh (Online)
In recent years, financial markets have focused their attentions on cryptocurrencies, which led to the proliferation and development of cryptocurrencies across multiple jurisdictions (e.g. Libra, Saga, JPM Coin, and even tokenised art works), but regulatory authorities have not gotten to the root of protecting the retail investor from various risks of cryptocurrency offerings, nor have they developed an international standard for regulating cryptocurrencies, and cryptocurrency businesses are required to consider various legislative frameworks and tailor their services to local regulatory treatments of cryptocurrencies.
This webinar outlines and contrasts various regulatory approaches towards cryptocurrencies and poses the following policy questions: (a) Is the current regulatory framework an unnecessary regulatory cost for cryptocurrency businesses? (b) Have regulatory authorities sufficiently safeguarded the interests of retail investors? and (c) Should we be concerned with investor protection or consider broader policy concerns?
About the speaker:
Jonas Koh is a graduate of the University of Manchester (LL.B. (Hons)) and University of California, Berkeley (Boalt Hall) (LL.M. (Specialisation in Law and Technology)). He served as a judicial law fellow at the District Court of the Northern District of California, clerking for two District Court Judges (the Honourable Edward M. Chen, and the Honourable Yvonne Gonzalez Rodgers). While clerking at the US District Courts, he has worked on various complex disputes, some of the highlights include (i) a patent dispute between an individual patent owner and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Apple Inc., Huawei, and their suppliers, (ii) securities litigation involving AMD, the second-largest silicon chip maker, (iii) a cross-border trademark license dispute between Sharp Inc. and Hisense Co., Ltd. and its subsidiaries, and (iv) a class-action lawsuit involving Uber Technologies, Inc. Prior to returning to Singapore, Jonas assisted a leading bio-technology company with IP and corporate strategies. Jonas brings a unique insight into the judicial thought process and possesses specialised legal knowledge in technology transactions. He has advised FinTech and technology companies on various corporate matters, ranging from capital markets and private equity-related issues, and has assisted numerous emerging companies in navigating the Singapore securities regulatory landscape.
Jonas’ recent research includes a critical commentary on the disparate legislative framework applicable to cryptocurrencies in Singapore, (Crypto Conundrum Part I: Navigating Singapore’s Regulatory Regime, Singapore Academy of Law Practitioner, Vol. 3 (2020)), and a comparative multi-jurisdictional framework outlining the implications of varying regulatory attitudes for cryptocurrencies businesses (Crypto Conundrum Part II: A Multi-Jurisdictional Uncertainty, Singapore Academy of Law Practitioner, Vol. 4 (2020)).
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