Will changes to advertising rules end the UK retail crypto bubble? Part one: new ASA guidance

A flurry of initiatives are tightening rules around crypto advertising in the UK. In this two-part series, our regulatory experts, Ben Regnard-Weinrabe, Anna Lewis-Martinez and Rory Copeland explain what's happening and why it matters.

Topics covered in this podcast include:

• How crypto assets are regulated today in the UK
• What new requirements have come into effect and what’s expected to apply in future
• Why UK authorities are expediting the extension of advertising requirements for cryptoassets
• The key features of the ASA guidance on cryptoasset advertising
• How can the ASA enforce its decisions?
• Recent proposals for a new online advertising regulator within the UK

The developing cryptoasset landscape in the UAE - Spotlight on the regulation of cryptoassets

The UAE’s ambitious plan to establish itself as a regional hub for fintech and payments firms has led to the recent introduction of a host of legislation both in the mainland UAE and in the financial freezones, designed to bring certain cryptoassets and activities connected with cryptoassets within scope of regulation.

In this episode, Middle East based senior associates Victoria Ferres (Financial Services Regulatory) and David Berman (Litigation, Investigations and Contentious Regulatory), provide:

• an introduction to cryptoassets
• an overview of the key legal considerations relevant to cryptoassets in the UAE
• insights into the key regulatory regimes governing crypto in the UAE, implemented both in mainland UAE as well as in the UAE’s financial free zones.

This podcast will be of interest to anyone involved in the crypto space or who is seeking to become involved in the crypto sector in the UAE, or in the broader GCC region.

Institutional Investor Forum: How I Made It - an interview with Michelle Thomsen

EU/UK Securitisation Regulations and restrictions on the use of third country SPVs

This episode of Allen & Overy’s Market Horizons podcast series focuses on the EU Securitisation Regulation and the UK Securitisation Regulation regimes, in particular, restrictions on the use of third country special purpose vehicles (SPVs). 

Crypto M&A with Bitstamp and Imperii Partners part II

New York-based M&A partner Dario de Martino is joined by head of corporate development at Bitstamp Eva Gartner, and Chief Executive Officer at Imperii Partners Tony Scuderi in our latest crypto-focused podcast. Covering the key drivers of blockchain M&A, and valuation and due diligence trends and issues.

Crypto M&A with Bitstamp and Imperii Partners part I

How brands should prepare for the Metaverse

What role does intellectual property play in the metaverse and do clients need to change their behaviour towards their brands and copyright?

In this podcast, members of A&O’s global IP group, Victoria Pied, Elise Romelly and Beverley Potts, discuss the trade mark, design and copyright issues raised by the metaverse.

Evolution of the in-house legal function in Belgium

In this edition of our Allen & Overy Advanced Delivery podcast we discuss how the in-house legal function has changed, what this means for law firms and how technology plays a key role in the evolution of the legal landscape. We invited Caroline Coesemans (Head of Legal BeNeLux & Nordics at Google Belgium) and Laurens De Koster (Legal Counsel at BNYM in Belgium) to share their experiences and views with us! 

Introduction to the Metaverse

What is the metaverse, who controls it and what does it look like?

In this podcast, members of A&O’s international IP group, Victoria Pied, Elise Romelly, Laetitia Nicolazzi and Beverley Potts, discuss the fundamentals of the metaverse and how it is quickly evolving to mimic reality.

Market Horizons podcast: Digital Bonds – are they the future of capital markets?

In this episode of Allen & Overy’s Market Horizons podcast series, partners in A&O’s Debt Capital Markets team, Daniel Fletcher (London), Hervé Ekué (Paris), Salvador Ruiz (Madrid) and senior associate Philippe Noeltner (Luxembourg) look at what the future may hold for the capital markets. Together, they discuss Digital Bonds – which some are calling the future of debt capital markets – and look at some of the potential benefits and challenges of adopting these new structures.

Glossary: 

• Digital Bond / Blockchain Bond - a wholly dematerialised bond that is issued, registered, settled, transferred and custodied natively using DLT.
• DLT / Distributed Ledger Technology  -  a set of protocols which enable data to be securely and accurately created and stored on a shared, de-centralised database, generally using cryptography. New information – representing records of transactions – is recorded on the distributed ledger only after validation by multiple computers (referred to as nodes) using a pre-agreed consensus mechanism. 
• Blockchain -  the most common example of DLT, and is so-called because each new transaction or bundle of transactions is recorded in a new ‘block’ of data which, once validated by the system, is added to the end of the existing sequential blocks of information (like adding links to a chain).