How to best regulate crypto-assets? The EU and UAE perspectives

How should crypto-assets be regulated? Against the backdrop of the recent adoption by the European Union of the MiCA Regulation, it seems crucial to compare the regulatory choices made in the European Union and the United Arab Emirates.
There are many issues at stake, including the introduction of a new central bank digital currency, the regulatory model for crypto-assets, the new regime for the issuance of stablecoins, the obligations incumbent on industry professionals, the international articulation of rules and the settlement of disputes...
Academics, members of regulatory authorities, industry professionals and lawyers will discuss these issues at a one-day conference organized at Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, to clarify and compare current and future regulations.

Welcoming participants : 9h

9h30-9h50 – Introductory Remarks
Philippe Richard, Executive Director, International Affairs, FSRA

What is at stake in the recognition of wholesale and retail Central Bank Digital Currency?

• 9h50-10h10 – The Digital Euro package of June 2023 (Pr Thierry Bonneau, Professor, Panthéon-Assas University)
• 10h10-10h30 – Legal aspects of the Digital Dirham andthe institutionalisation of virtual assets (Mr. Jack Hardman, Partner, Clifford Chance )

Discussion - Coffee break

What model for regulating crypto-assets?

- Taxonomy of crypto-assets : legal qualifications and use cases

• 11h-11h20 – Product typology in MiCARegulation to The MiCA methodology : strength and limits. (Pr. Pauline Pailler, Professor, Paris Cité University )
• 11h20-11h40 – Taxonomy of digital assets in the Emirates: the FSRA model (Mr. Edmond O’Hanlon, Legal Counsel, FSRA )

- What framework for stablecoins and asset referenced tokens?

• 11h40-12h – Stablecoin regulation in MiCA (Mr Hubert de Vauplane, Partner, Morgan Lewis)
• 12h-12h20 –The Stablecoins Regulation by the FSRA (Mrs. Charlotte Nedir-Costard, Paxos International & Edmond O’Hanlon, Legal Counsel, FSRA)

Discussion – Lunch break

Obligations of crypto-asset platforms, service providers and custodians
How should crypto-assets be stored? What can be done in the event of loss of the private key, bankruptcy of the custodian, etc.? What is the role of the supervisory authorities?

• 14h-14h20 – Regulation or absence of regulation : what is at stakes? (Pr Nathalie Martial-Braz, Professor, Chancelor Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi)
• 14h20-14h40 – Crypto-asset service providers framework in MiCA (Mr Clément Saudo, Legal Affairs Department, AMF France)

Discussion – Coffee break

• 15h-15h20 – Regulation of professionals in the Emirates (Mr. André Abou Aad & Mr. Benjamin Grolimund, GM, Rain)
• 15h20-15h40 – Towards a passport? (Dr. Ryan Lemand, Neovision Wealth Management)
• 15h40-16h – UAE Initiatives and Developments in the Fight against Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Mr Hamad Ayedh Alhajeri, International Relations and Organizations Specialist at General Secretariat of the National AML/CFT and Financing of illegal Organizations Committee (GS-NAMLCFTC))