IANUS 2020

IANUS 2020 (21) for EUMOL JEAN MONNET CHAIR

Crypto-assets, Law and the European Union: a global challenge

Each year, Ianus accommodates a bunch of papers based on the core topics of Jean Monnet Chair in EU Money Law (EUMOL). This is the case of fintech and sustainable development.

CALL for Papers 

Cryptoassets comprise currency, investment and utility tokens. This classification is a useful but gives a far from stable outcome. Indeed, there is not just one blockchain technology but several blockchain technologies.

The EUMOL Jean Monnet Chair is launching a call for papers on “Crypto-assets, law and the European Union: a global challenge”, soliciting papers (where the term “papers” covers essays, case law analysis, book presentations, and legislative news) from the entire academic community, within and outside the European Union. This call is addressed to legal scholars (associate and full professors, early-career researchers, PhD candidates), but we are also very interested in papers co-authored with colleagues from different areas of academic research. 

We invite all contributors to select the meaning of crypto-assets most closely related to their field, topic, and perspective of research, covering the European framework but also individual regulatory experiences within and outside Europe. We therefore welcome papers covering (but not limited to) one or more of the following aspects:

  • Crypto-assets and regulatory approaches: competition and regulation, what trade-off?
  • What role can crypto-assets play in complementary currency schemes?
  • What about the regulation of smart contracts in the use of crypto-assets?
  • Crypto-assets, dis-intermediation and legal certainty;
  • Can we consider crypto-assets as sustainable tools in themselves? Or as a means for building up a more sustainable business and finance?
  • What role can traditional financial intermediaries play in the crypto-assets scenario?
  • To what extent can we apply the conventional framework of investor and consumer safeguards to crypto-assets, crypto-assets exchanges, or wallet service providers to crypto-assets, crypto-assets exchanges or wallet service providers? The rules and regulations for payment services, and the MIFID regulatory package within the EU framework come to mind, for example;
  • Cryptoassets and the role of central banking; 
  • Will crypto-assets change the feeling of community belonging?
  • The proper functioning of the market and the spread of crypto-assets;
  • Crypto-assets and credit extension to households and SMEs.

Work in Progress. Stay Tuned.

LEGAL STATUS AND PRACTICE OF COMPLEMENTARY CURRENCY IN RUSSIA 

Anastasia Ljovkina Professor, Department of Economic Security, system analysis and control, Tyumen State University

https://www.rivistaianus.it/numero_22_2020/01_Ljovkina_9-20.pdf

In circumstances of financial crises and external economic shocks, complementary currencies (CCs) play a crucial role as a compensatory exchange instrument. CC’s potential for positive socialeconomic effects is defined by its design and conditions of using which, in their turn, substantially depend on their national legal status. This article focuses on the analysis of contradictions between the legal status of CCs and existing social needs in using them. The analysis of law regulating the Russian finance system allowed to identify a legal framework of using CCs in local economic practice. This doctrinal research was combined with a case study of the existing practice of using CCs revealed a reasonable social request for CCs. Thus, research of economic interactions as a part ofsocial life in the current legal context allowed to reveal the actual constructive social needs in CCs as a legal tool of local exchange which conflicts with the current legal system and should be considered in its further development. At first, it requires the unambiguous legitimacy of CCs in Russia. Expanding the effective practice of using CCs in Russia needs a participative system of developing legal frameworks considering the interests of all economic agents for the common goals of sustainable development.

L’INQUADRAMENTO GIURIDICO DEI TOKEN. UN’ANALISI COMPARATISTICA DELLA REGOLAMENTAZIONE ITALIANA E SAMMARINESE 

Fabio Zambardino Dottorando di ricerca in Diritto Comparato e Processi di Integrazione, Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”

file:///C:/Users/Gimigliano/Desktop/02_Zambardino_21-35.pdf 

The techological innovation has long been affecting the securities domain with products and alternative investment mechanisms potentially offering a higher liquidity to the companies. The present essay aims at analyzing specifically the phenomenon of the token illustrating some of the regulatory approaches, in a comparative perspective, adopted at a national level in Italy and San Marino.

DIGITAL EURO: OPPORTUNITY OR (LEGAL) CHALLENGE? 

Pier Mario Lupinu1 PhD Candidate in Banking and Finance Law, University of Luxembourg – Università degli Studi Roma Tre

https://www.rivistaianus.it/numero_22_2020/03_Lupinu_37-62.pdf

In the euro area today, there are two ways in which the central bank provides money to its economy. The first consists in the issue of physical banknotes, while the second is expressed through the electronic accreditation of deposits on current accounts that credit institutions hold at the central bank. In the last five years, following both the increase in the digitalisation of themodern economy and the example of hegemonic economies (such as China), the possible introduction of a new form of currency to provide a safe and stable mean of payment to citizens of the euro area has had the power to create a growing interest towards such ambitious solutions. As a result, in the very near future we could experience a different way in which money works. We refer to the uncharted world of central bank digital currencies (CBDC). While projects for the creation of central bank digital currencies are booming all around the world, such interest is driven by various reasons that will be analysed in this paper, including the need to react to private initiatives for the creation of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins and, an increasing demand for fast and interconnected digital financial instruments and products. In the euro area, even if the debate for the creation of a Digital Euro has recently started, the ECB has proven to be already engaged in investigations, public consultations, and discussions with focus groups with the aim to provide European citizens, firms, and intermediaries with a “public” payment instrument suitable for a new digital era. In this framework, the role of a Eurosystem central bank digital currency will be analysed from a legal perspective. First, apart from the abovementioned reasons leading to the creation of a CBDC, it will be crucial to examine the structure and design of the Digital Euro, together with its objectives and the needs of its users. Consequently, while investigating on the legal framework which will permit the introduction of this digital currency, through a light review of similar models adopted (or in adoption) by other countries, we will seek to assess whether legal issues might hinder the realisation of this project or its actual implementation, especially concerning the impact on monetary policy, the international role of the euro and the banking sector.

EUROPEAN PAYMENTS IN THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE: IN PURSUIT OF A COHERENT LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR STABLECOINS

Andrea Castillo-Olano PhD Candidate in Commercial and Business Law, University of Zaragoza

https://www.rivistaianus.it/numero_22_2020/04_Castillo-Olano_63-103.pdf

The proposal for a Regulation on Markets in Crypto-assets (MiCA Regulation proposal) establishes a legal regime for two kinds of stablecoins: the asset-referenced tokens and the electronic money tokens, which are said to be intended primarily as a means of payment. This paper aims to make a first approach to their proposed regime and to analyse whether the interplay between the MiCA Regulation proposal and the standing payments legislation is coherent. For that purpose, after a short reference to the legal nature (or its lack of determination) of cryptocurrencies in general, the proposal and the particular tokens are introduced. On this basis, the scopes of the Second Directive on Payment Services, as well as the Second Directive on Electronic Money are briefly described, so afterwards the applicability of these pieces of legislation to the specific regimes of asset-referenced and electronic money tokens can be analysed, in regard to both the issuance of the tokens and the further transactions executed in relation to them.