The long-held myth of crypto markets benefitting from a “legal vacuum” has recently been dismantled once and for all. Whereas the EU has adopted a regulation for markets in crypto-assets (MiCAR), international standard-setters such as the FATF, the FSB, BCBS and IOSCO have issued a series of far-reaching recommendations that are now to be implemented worldwide. Given these significant regulatory headwinds, the crypto industry will inevitably have to go through a process of maturation and consolidation.

By Franca Contratto (Reference: CapLaw-2023-38)

As part of its overall strategy to repair the immediate economic damage triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, the EU is about to adopt a “Capital Markets Recovery Package”. The aim of the reform is to implement targeted amendments to existing EU capital market rules in order to promote market-based finance as one of the core pillars of the EU’s coronavirus recovery strategy. This article sheds light on the key elements of the proposed reforms and assesses whether these regulatory adjustments may also help to finally advance the highly ambitious EU Capital Markets Union project.

By Franca Contratto (Reference: CapLaw-2020-74)