Decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs) are increasingly being used as an alternative form of business. Supported by blockchain technology and smart contracts, DAOs are decentralised in terms of removing the need for centralised governance, and autonomous in terms of operating in accordance with rules encoded via smart contracts (instead of in accordance with articles of association and shareholders agreements).
But how should DAOs be treated from a legal perspective? As a collective investment structure? As a partnership? As a venture capital fund? As a crowdsourcing platform?
Jurisdictions around the world are starting to consider how DAOs and crypto businesses generally should be regulated. Singapore has already begun to adapt its legal framework to enable DAOs to operate. In Australia, there have been recent calls for the Corporations Act to recognise DAOs as a new type of “limited liability” entity. And the US State of Wyoming recently passed a law to accord legal personalities to DAOs.
This webinar will explore the legal and regulatory challenges associated with DAOs and how those challenges might be overcome. It will bring together a regional panel of experts, consisting of a regulator, legal practitioners, a technology expert and a legal academic, to discuss the relevant issues.
At the start of the webinar, the Honourable Justice Andrew Phang, Justice of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Singapore, will launch Technology and Corporate Law: How Innovation Shapes Corporate Activity (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2021), edited by Andrew Godwin, Pey Woan Lee and Rosemary Teele Langford.
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‘This is an illuminating legal guide to the world of self-driving corporations, AI systems as corporate board members, and all the corporate governance challenges that come from the rise of technology. As always, the law plays catch-up, as the technology runs ahead. This collection of thoughtful analyses of the issues will well serve all lawyers who are chasing the technology and attempting to keep up.’ |
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– Ross P Buckley, KPMG and KWM Professor of Disruptive Innovation, UNSW Sydney, Australia
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‘The breadth of perspectives of this work on technology and corporate law is as impressive as the insightfulness of its contributions. As technology heavily impacts corporate governance practices, organisational forms and the functioning of capital markets, this book deserves its place in the library of anyone with an interest in the present and the future of corporate law.’ |
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– Luca Enriques, Professor of Corporate Law, University of Oxford, UK |
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PROGRAMME
| 3:45 PM |
Participants log in to webinar |
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| 4:00 PM |
Welcome by Professor Lee Pey Woan, SMU |
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| 4:05 PM |
Address by The Honourable Judge of Appeal Justice Andrew Phang |
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| 4:10 PM |
Brief overview of the book by Associate Professor Rosemary Langford, Melbourne Law School
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| 4:20 PM |
Panel and Q&A
Chair:
Andrew Godwin
Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne
Speakers:
Saw Tiong Tjin
Product Manager, Palantir Technologies
Leong Weng Tat
Chief Legal Officer, ACRA
Lock Yin Mei
Partner, Allen & Overy
Urszula MacCormack
Partner, King & Wood Mallesons |
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| 5:45 PM |
Closing Remarks by Professor Lee Pey Woan, SMU |
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| 5:50 PM |
End of Event |
SPEAKERS
Andrew Godwin
Principal Fellow
Melbourne Law School
Andrew Godwin is a Principal Fellow at Melbourne Law School. Prior to joining Melbourne Law School as a member of the academic staff in 2007, Andrew spent 15 years in practice, including 10 years in Shanghai where he was a partner of an international law firm. Andrew researches in the area of financial regulation, banking and financial services law, insolvency law, property law and the regulation of the legal profession. His PhD thesis examined traditional land-use rights in rural China and evaluated their relevance and suitability to reform today.
Andrew a co-author of Sackville & Neave Australian Property Law (LexisNexis, 11th Edition, 2021) and a co-editor of Research Handbook on Asian Financial Law (Edward Elgar, 2020), The Cambridge Handbook of Twin Peaks Financial Regulation (Cambridge University Press, 2021) and Technology and Corporate Law (Edward Elgar, 2021).
Andrew is currently assisting the Australian Law Reform Commission as Special Counsel in its inquiry into corporations and financial services regulation in Australia.
Saw Tiong Tjin
Product Manager
Palantir Technologies
TJ holds first class honours degrees in law and science (mathematics) from the University of Melbourne. He also holds a Master’s Degree of Law and Finance from the University of Oxford.
TJ’s career spans legal practice and technology. An experienced entrepreneur, TJ was a co-founder of Ethcore and was involved in the development of Ethereum, the decentralized, open-source blockchain with smart contract functionality. In his current role at Palantir, TJ manages the design and development of products for human-driven analysis of real-world data.
Palantir Technologies is a public American software company that specialises in big data analytics. It has been extensively involved in supporting COVID-19 efforts through the provision of software and several countries have used Palantir technology to track and contain transmission. Palantir also developed Tiberius, a software for vaccine allocation used in the United States.
Leong Weng Tat
Chief Legal Officer
ACRA
Weng Tat is the Chief Legal Officer of the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority. Prior to this, he was a Deputy Public Prosecutor with the Attorney-General’s Chambers, specialising in financial crimes. He was also previously a corporate lawyer with Allen & Gledhill LLP, and had served as an Assistant Registrar and Justices’ Law Clerk with the Supreme Court. He is also an adjunct lecturer at the SMU Yong Pung How School of Law since 2018.
Lock Yin Mei
Partner
Allen & Overy
Yin Mei is a Partner at Allen & Overy. Her practice includes advising on capital raising, mergers & acquisitions (M&A), investment funds as well as regulatory issues for private and public companies, financial institutions and other intermediaries. She has acted on some of the largest and most complex public equity, debt and hybrid fund raising, takeovers, M&A and privatisation transactions. She regularly advises sponsors and fund managers in the establishment and syndication of private funds. Yin Mei is consistently recognised as a leader in her area of practice by clients and key industry publications, including Chambers, IFLR1000 and Legal 500.
Yin Mei sits on the boards of the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority of Singapore (ACRA) and of the National Healthcare Group. She was a board member of the Singapore Land Authority from 2016 to 2020. She presently chairs the Corporate Law Advisory Panel at ACRA and is also a member of the Compliance Committee (Continuing Professional Development) of the Singapore Institute of Legal Education. Previously, Yin Mei was appointed by ACRA to the Companies Act Working Group which completed its review of the Singapore Companies Act in 2019.
Yin Mei graduated with an LLB (Honours) degree from the National University of Singapore and also holds an LLM degree from the University of Cambridge.
Urszula MacCormack
Partner, Cross Border Finance & Technology
King & Wood Mallesons
Urszula McCormack is one of Asia’s leading regulatory and digital economy lawyers, with a focus on emerging technologies. Urszula advises global banks, payment institutions, large technology companies, virtual asset issuers and innovators on new products, compliance and financial services licensing. She also advises on privacy regulation, digital transformation and algorithmic design.
Urszula is a member of multiple advisory bodies and is regularly invited to brief governments, regulators and transnational policymakers.
Urszula is admitted to practice law in Hong Kong, Australia and England & Wales.
FEES
a. Registration Fee
Registration fee of S$80.25* (inclusive of GST) applies per module
b. Group Registration
Registration fee of S$74.90* (inclusive of GST) applies if there are at least 10 participants from the same organisation.
c. SMU Alumni (LLB / JD / LLM graduates)
Registration fee of S$74.90* (inclusive of GST) applies for SMU LLB/ JD/ LLM Alumni per module
*Please note that there will be no refund of any fees should the participant cancel the registration/ fail to attend the event. However, registration is transferable. Notice of any change in participant should be sent to the Academy via email: smulawacademy [at] smu.edu.sg, at least one week before the event.
SMU Law Academy reserves the right to cancel or postpone any event. In such case, we will arrange for the refund of fees paid.
