Description

About the Seminar

The invention of cryptocurrencies has triggered a race for digitised money, which States run in fundamentally different ways. Some have charged their central banks with developing digital versions of national currencies; others bet on privately issued stablecoins, with official currencies as a reference asset; still others pursue both avenues in parallel; while most take a wait-and-see approach. The different approaches are obstacles on the way to a global payment system. Stablecoins issued in one country cannot be offered in others since they do not comply with local requirements. Central bank digital currencies are not interoperable and are often are restricted in terms of sectors, holders or area of use. A new division of the payment system is looming on the horizon. At the same time, one cannot deny states’ legitimate concern about the future transmission of their national monetary policy. How is this conundrum to be solved? The presentation seeks to address this question. Against the backdrop of the Chinese, EU, Singaporean and US rules, it will discuss how the need for a global payment system can be balanced with a legitimate space for national monetary policy.

About the Speaker

Matthias Lehmann is a full professor of private law, private international and comparative law at the University of Vienna (Austria),. His main interest lies in international and comparative aspects of financial law. He is regularly invited as a guest professor at the Sorbonne University (France), the University of Fribourg (Switzerland), and the Universidad Pablo de Olavide (Spain). Matthias is a member of the Council of the European Law Institute (ELI), of the American Law Institute (ALI), of the Academia Europaea (AE), of the Academic Board of the European Banking Institute (EBI), and of the International Academy of Comparative Law (IACL). He has been visiting the London School of Economics, Oxford University, Stanford University, and is now visiting the National University of Singapore. Matthias has participated in the European Commission’s Expert Group on Conflict of Laws Regarding Securities and Claims and in various UNIDROIT Working Groups, inter alia on Digital Assets and Private Law, Bank Insolvency and Verified Carbon Credits.