Financial Technology and the Law

Blockchains and cryptocurrencies, open banking, virtual assets, and artificial intelligence have become the buzzword of this decade. This book focuses on these ‘disruptive’ financial technologies that provide alternatives to the traditional financial services typically offered by regulated financial institutions. Financial technologies are characterized by the innovative ways in which they initiate, support or extend traditional financial services or offer alternative financial pathways and products. However, these financial technologies also pose money laundering and terrorist and proliferation financing as well as cyber security risks that require mitigation. This edited volume addresses a range of regulatory and enforcement challenges related to financial technology and financial crime.

The book responds to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, in particular in relation to economic development, employment, national security, law enforcement and social well-being. Fostering responsible financial innovation promotes long-term economic growth, inclusion, and improved living standards. This book explores how to promote financial innovation while mitigating risks in a way that ensures financial prosperity and social inclusion.

Doron Goldbarsht, LLB LLM (HUJI) PHD (UNSW), is a Senior Lecturer in Macquarie Law School where he teaches in the field of Banking Law and Financial Crime. He is an authority on anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing (AML/CTF) regulations, with expertise in the related fields of compliance and financial innovation. Dr Goldbarsht’s recent book, journal and chapter publications focus on different international AML/CTF standards and the mechanisms for their effective implementation and compliance at the national level. Dr Goldbarsht holds a practising certificate from both Australia and Israel. He mentors different start-ups, provides expert opinions in legal proceedings, and is a research fellow with the Optus Macquarie University Cyber Security Hub.

Louis de Koker, LLB LLM (UFS) LLM (Cantab) LLD (UFS) FSALS, is a Professor of Law at La Trobe University, Australia and an Extraordinary Professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of the WesternCape, South Africa. Louis researches anti-money laundering and counter terrorist and proliferation financing regulation, and especially the relationship between financial integrity and financial inclusion policies. He is the RegTech lead of La Trobe LawTech. Louis has worked with the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, the World Bank, the Alliance for Financial Inclusion and regulators and financial service providers on the design and implementation of appropriate integrity and inclusion measures over the past two decades. His research on integrity laws and their impact on financial inclusion has been cited in publications of international bodies including the World Bank, IMF, the Financial Action Task Force and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision.