The Rutgers Center for Corporate Law and Governance launched its Fintech and Blockchain Collaboratory on February 19 with an event that involved nearly 40 participants, including leading law firm partners, counsel from major blockchain and fintech (financial technology) companies, former regulators, a representative from the World Economic Forum, and academics from American and European universities.

Blockchain is the decentralized record-keeping technology behind Bitcoin and other crypto currencies and has applications throughout finance and elsewhere.

The virtual event included speaker David Yermack, Chair of the Finance Department and Director of the Law and Finance Program at NYU Stern School of Business.  

“We hope the Collaboratory will become a successful series of gatherings connecting academics and practitioners, advancing the regulatory and policy debate on crypto and fintech, and presenting cutting-edge research, including projects on which the Center for Corporate Law and Governance is currently working,” said Professor Douglas Eakeley, co-director of the Center for Corporate Law and Governance.

As Rutgers Law School Professor Yuliya Guseva, an expert in the legal regulation of crypto assets and the head of the Collaboratory, explained, “Our goal is to establish a hub where practitioners and academics can discuss ideas and developments in crypto and fintech and propose solutions to the most challenging problems facing the industry and the regulators,” she said. “We expect that these interactions and ideas will result in actual policy proposals grounded in solid research and addressing the needs of this evolving industry and its various stakeholders.”  

The Center for Corporate Law and Governance and its faculty members will also share their research at the Collaboratory. Professors Eakeley and Guseva are about to publish several academic articles on crypto and fintech-related enforcement. The articles were already showcased in various professional blogs in the U.S., including two articles in Columbia Law School's CLS Blue Sky Blog on Corporations and the Capital Markets—Securities Regulation in Cryptoasset Markets: A Cost-Benefit Analysis; Crypto-Enforcement Around the World; and one in the Centre for Financial Regulation and Economic Development at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Besides leading the Collaboratory, the Rutgers Center sponsors a course on financial regulation and innovations. Professor Guseva co-teaches the course with Merav Ozair, associate professor and fintech faculty member at the Rutgers Business School. The instructors have invited several guest speakers and crypto-practitioners to share their expertise with the students. The guest speakers include leading attorneys from the U.S., Singapore, and Gibraltar, as well as academics from the U.K. and the U.S.  Professor Guseva noted, “We believe it is crucial to provide our students with ample opportunities to learn about the fast-evolving financial industries and associated novel regulatory challenges.”