FINTECH Law and Regulation: Second Edition

Book Review

FINTECH Law and Regulation: Second Edition

However modern and future-facing the subject, there is something undeniably comforting about a book. Particularly so, when it’s a proper textbook with impressive chapter authors who know their stuff, and someone who has carefully curated and edited it all into one cohesive and comprehensive tome. When it comes to the Second Edition of FINTECH Law and Regulation, that is exactly the sense of reassuring authority the reader takes away. Almost anyone can post an article online about fintech, what it is, how it is regulated and so on, but this book delivers the sort of tangible, dependable reassurance that often feels out of reach when sifting through contradictory articles online on subjects such as AI, blockchain, crypto, defi and fintech generally.

From alternative financing to cyberwarfare to techfins (no, that’s not a typo), this book covers pretty much everything any lawyer would need to know about fintech. I have certainly learned a lot from reading it. The glossary alone is worth the book’s weight in gold (not that many of those with an interest in this book would be much bothered by such an outdated concept of value, but you get my point).

Split into four distinctive parts ((1) Payments, Alternative Financing and Cryptoassets, (2) Blockchain and Distributed Ledgers, (3) Regulation and Compliance, (4) Technological Innovations in Legal Services), the book is easy to navigate and flows well. Some of the chapters make for particularly interesting reading, with real life examples which make some of the complex issues much easier to digest. A great example of this is Patricia L. de Miranda and Charles Kerrigan’s Cybersecurity and Blockchain chapter, which tells the tale of international cyberwarfare, including that between Russia and the US (a subject which has become particularly pertinent at the time of writing, given the ongoing war in Ukraine), Egypt and Ethiopia and North Korea and the UK. The latter, we are informed by the writers, cost somewhere between USD 4-8 billion, despite being stopped accidentally by a 22-year-old in the UK within 24 hours of the first attack. Sometimes, accidents really are blessings in disguise.

The editor Jelena Madir’s own chapter on Smart Contracts is another example of how this book distils some complex issues into something digestible, using diagrams and tables where necessary to aid the reader. This chapter tells the reader that “smart contracts are essentially a slightly new form of an old phenomenon” and goes on to explain how smart contracts are treated in various jurisdictions. It dispels many myths about smart contracts, and highlights the limits on their current use, not least the lack of any consistent definition internationally as well as differing legal treatment on enforceability.

Other chapters are similarly well structured and mostly easy to read and follow. I found the chapters on regulatory sandboxes, compliance and whistleblowing and robo-advisory services particularly valuable.

In summary, this is an old school textbook on a very modern subject, and as such, it is a very welcome addition to my desk library. The only question is how long it will take until one of my colleagues pinches it…

Vanessa Whitman

Book reviewed by Vanessa Whitman, Finance and Fintech Disputes Partner, CMS