Dentons was very proud to drive the debate forward during a special discussion on Capital Markets Union (CMU), Blockchain and Growth Opportunities for Italy.

Recordings

To rewatch the recording of the webinar and discussion technological evolution of finance and the regulatory response arising out of EU legislative proposals and what this offers Italy and Italian companies please see below.

A full list of materials presented on the day and available to read as a follow-up include:

• Accompanying slides to keynote speech of Greg Medcraft available here
• OECD SME and Entrepreneurship Papers No. 20 “Blockchain for SMEs and Entrepreneurs in Italy” available here
• Accompanying slides to presentation of Marco Bodellini available here

Speakers

Marco Bodellini, Associate Lecturer in Banking and Financial Law, Queen Mary University of London

Michael Huertas, Partner, Co-Head Financial Institutions Regulatory Europe, Dentons

Greg Medcraft, Director of the OECD Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs

Moderator

Valerio Lemma, Banking & Finance Senior Associate, Dentons

Thought Leadership

To learn more about how Dentons can help existing and new market participants involved in the blockchain and DLT sector please visit our focus page here or our Eurozone Hub here for assistance with issues relating to financial regulation, MiCA or DORA.

Meet MiCA

This Background Briefing takes a deep dive into the EU's proposal for a Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation. In addition to an overview of MiCA, the Briefing takes a closer look at the EU's Blockchain and distributed ledger technology market infrastructure with a view of helping businesses better understand and forward plan for the proposed changes.

The “Quick Take” Client Alert summarizes the most important changes in a quick and easy to digest format and readers are encouraged to consult the Background Briefing and its Appendix for a detailed analysis. The Appendix shows what changes have been made to the substantive text in the most recent version of the MiCA Regulation proposal.

• Background Briefing - Download the full brochure
• Quick Take: Blockchain has been transformative and MiCA marks the Big Bang in regulation in the EU
• Appendix
• 1st Alert in our series of deep dives on the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA)
• 2nd Alert in our deep dives on DORA
• 3rd Alert in our deep dives on DORA and the ESAs response to policymakers

Click here to access more related Thought Leadership.

Dentons’ Blockchain Capital Markets and Distributed Ledger Technology Capabilities

The Dentons’ Capital Markets practice has been active from the beginning, when Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology in general first became a topic for discussion within the finance industry. Our team on the ground and cross-border specialists can offer a comprehensive in-depth analysis on Blockchain and DLT use cases and business processes in all relevant jurisdictions around the world. This not only includes understanding of the technological difference between Blockchain, Ethereum, IOTA etc. or the custody wallet technology, but also their programming capability and advanced IT skills, which enable our legal experts to understand the industry and projects, and provide corresponding and comprehensive advice. In particular, we actively support clients with the following workstreams:

• Tokenization of existing securities;
• Issuance and distribution of crypto-assets including, initial coin offerings (ICOs), securities token offerings (STOs) and token generating events (TGEs);
• Crypto custody set-up and related regulatory matters;
• Assistance with anti-money laundering and financial crime prevention frameworks;
• Digital onboarding channel support, including in the context of digital ID and authentication systems;
• Data protection and overall compliance with regard to the issuance and distribution of crypto assets and general set-up of business processes on DLT;
• Taxation analysis and structuring; and
• Intellectual property review and counseling surrounding blockchain technology advancements.