Registration and Breakfast

8:00 am - 8:45 am

Registration, breakfast and coffee.

Welcome Remarks

8:45 am - 9:00 am

Matthew Diller, Dean and Paul Fuller Professor of Law, Fordham University School of Law

Donna Redel, Symposium Co-Founder ('95)

Joyce Lai, Symposium Co-Founder ('13)

Panel: Overview of Crypto-Digital Asset Regulatory Landscape

9:00 am - 10:00 am

The blockchain regulatory landscape is evolving rapidly. There are many challenges and opportunities inherent in the regulatory framework as well as the adoption/scaling of the technology. This session will focus on what are the key issues facing the industry and if we are moving in the right direction to create greater legal certainty.  The panel will highlight issues that will be addressed throughout the day.

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Panelists:

• Nick Grossman, Partner, Union Square Ventures

• Stuart Levi, Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

• Georgia Quinn, General Counsel, CoinList

• Aaron Wright, Associate Clinical Professor of Law, Cardozo School of Law

Fireside Chat with Amy Starr

10:00 am - 10:30 am

Amy Starr, Chief Advisor for FinTech Capital Markets at Division of Corporation Finance, FinHub Member, Securities and Exchange Commission

Interviewed by Kenneth Raisler, Of Counsel, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP

Keynote: Linda Lacewell

10:30 am - 10:45 am

Linda Lacewell, Superintendent, New York Department of Financial Services 

Introduction by James Jalil, Adjunct Professor of Law, Fordham University School of Law 

Fireside Chat with Noah Philllips

10:45 am - 11:10 am

Noah Phillips, Commissioner, Federal Trade Commission

Interviewed by Joyce Lai, Law & Technology, ConsenSys

Coffee Break

11:10 am - 11:25 am

Coffee break.

Roundtable: At the Frontier of a Reimagined Legal Landscape

11:25 am - 12:30 pm

We have begun to see the development of blockchain-based solutions to collateralize assets, tokenize securities, and create liquidity for private companies and traditionally illiquid assets. In many cases, the relevant existing legal framework is sufficient to cover the digital assets activity, with some adjustments and clarifications needed. However, many other blockchain-based financial solutions do not fit neatly into the current legal framework. This roundtable discussion will focus on the latter, considering whether gentle tweaks to the existing law is sufficient, or something more is needed.

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Facilitators: 

• David Adlerstein, Counsel, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz

• Lewis Cohen, Founder & Partner, DLxLaw

• Andrea Tinianow, Founder, Tinianow Consulting

Roundtable Participants:

• Paul Brody, Principal & Global Innovation Leader, Blockchain, Ernst & Young

• Mary Beth Buchanan, General Counsel, Kraken Cryptocurrency Exchange 

• Preston Byrne, Partner, Byrne & Storm, P.C.

• Troy Paredes, Founder, Paredes Strategies LLC and Former Commissioner, Securities and Exchange Commission

• Donna Parisi, Partner, Shearman & Sterling LLP

• Sandra Rocks, Counsel, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP

• Gregory E. Xethalis, Partner, Chapman and Cutler LLP

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Keynote: Caitlin Long

12:30 pm - 12:40 pm

Caitlin Long, Gubernatorial Appointee, Wyoming Blockchain Task Force, Chairman, WyoHackathon

Lunch Sponsored by Fidelity Digital Assets

12:40 pm - 1:30 pm

Lunch sponsored by Fidelity Digital Assets.

Roundtable: Emerging Risks and Legal Issues in Moving Digital Assets Mainstream

1:30 pm - 2:30 pm

This roundtable will gather the perspective of the participants on what the term “mainstream” means. Does “mainstream” refer to further institutional adoption, or usage by retail customers, or both?  The roundtable will focus on the key topic of custody of digital assets.  What are the friction points and difficulties in fitting digital assets in the current regulatory framework?  What are the potential solutions for custody?  The recent IRS guidance highlights the difficulty in dealing with “airdrops” and “hard forks” of blockchain protocols. How does FATF and the recent Joint Statement from FinCEN, the SEC and the CFTC impact digital assets - “securities,” “commodities,” “currency,” or possibly multiple classifications simultaneously.

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Facilitators:

• Era Anagnosti, Partner, White & Case LLP

• Kristin Boggiano, Chief Legal Officer and Head of Government Affairs, AlphaPoint 

• David Forman, Senior Vice President & Deputy General Counsel, Fidelity Digital Assets

Roundtable Participants:

• David Aman, Senior Advisor, FINRA 

• Scott Bennett, Partner, Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP

• Jenny Leung, Attorney, Blakemore Fallon

• Yorke Rhodes, Co-Founder, Blockchain at Microsoft, Principal Program Manager Blockchain Programming, Microsoft Azure

• Joel Telpner, Senior Partner, Chair of Fintech and Blockchain Group, Sullivan & Worcester LLP

• Kevin Werbach, Professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

• Steve Wink, Partner, Latham & Watkins LLP 

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Coffee Break

2:30 pm - 2:45 pm

Coffee break.

Lightning Talk: Mark Patterson

Panel: Corporate Governance, Shareholder Voting and the Blockchain:  What Does the Future Hold?

2:45 pm - 3:45 pm

Lightning Talk: Mark Patterson, Professor of Law, Fordham University School of Law

Smart Contracts: Lawyers Learning to Code is the Future!

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Panel: Corporate Governance, Shareholder Voting and the Blockchain: What Does the Future Hold?

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Companies, investors, academics and regulators all complain about the current proxy voting system, which is generally considered to be inaccurate, overly complicated and unnecessarily expensive.  Many hope blockchain technology can facilitate a new, simpler system that would be more user friendly and accurate. This panel of experts will discuss the various legal, regulatory and practical issues that must be faced by those seeking to change the current system, and the opportunities presented by the new technology.

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Moderator:

• David Berger, Partner, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati P.C.

Panelists:

• Ken Bertsch, Executive Director, Council of Institutional Investors 

• George Geis, Professor of Law, University of Virginia School of Law 

• Rebecca Simmons, Partner and Co-Head of FinTech Practice, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP 

• Will Turner, Partner, Steptoe & Johnson LLP  

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Panel: An Overdue Payments Revolution: Public and Private Digital Currencies and Other Payment Rail Innovations

3:45 pm - 4:40 pm

A macro shift is happening. Libra cracked wide open the discussion on cryptocurrency. The Bank of England, the Federal Reserve, the European Union, the Internal Monetary Fund, the ex Chairman of the CFTC, China and other nations are discussing and experimenting with digital currencies.  The U.S. Congress is raising concerns about the association of personal financial information with large technology companies who have recently come under scrutiny due to privacy concerns. What types of policies and changes need to happen at the international, U.S. federal and U.S. state level in order to strike a healthy balance between large technology companies, sovereign national interests and consumer privacy rights?  

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Moderator:

• Donna Redel, Co-Founder Fordham Law Symposium and Adjunct Professor of Law, Fordham University School of Law, New York Angels, Board Member

Panelists:

• Brian Avello, General Counsel, Maker Economic Growth Foundation

• Gary DeWaal, Special Counsel, Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP

• Christine T. Parker, Partner, Reed Smith LLP

• Andrew Siegel, General Counsel, Galaxy Digital LP

Fireside Chat with James McDonald, Director of the Enforcement Division at the CFTC

4:40 pm - 5:00 pm

James McDonald, Director of the Enforcement Division at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Interviewed by Gary DeWaal, Special Counsel, Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP

Lightning Talk: George Weiksner, Michael Weiksner and Lewis Cohen

Panel: State Level Initiatives in Blockchain Legislative Solutions

5:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Lightning Talk: George Weiksner, Founder, Pocketful of Quarters, Inc.; Lewis Cohen, Founder and Partner, DLxLaw

Moderated by Caitlin Long, Gubernatorial Appointee, Wyoming Blockchain Task Force, Chairman, WyoHackathon

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Panel: State Level Initiatives in Blockchain Legislative Solutions

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States are finding ways to innovation and capture market economics as the blockchain industries begin to take form.  In the area of digital assets, laws and regulations present challenges to our courts, regulators and commercial interests.  This panel of exceptional jurists and regulators will discuss how our existing legal and regulatory systems will meld with the new, and where law and regulation in the United States will need to evolve to keep pace with innovation.  

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Moderator: 

• Bob Cornish, Partner, Anderson Kill P.C. 

Panelists:

• Chris Gerold, Bureau Chief, New Jersey Bureau of Securities Chief and President Elect at North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) 

• Hon. Jan Jurden, President Judge, Superior Court of Delaware 

• Chris Land, General Counsel, Wyoming Division of Banking 

• Liz M. Tanner, Director, Department of Business Regulation of the State of Rhode Island 

Closing Remarks and Networking Cocktail Reception

6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Closing Remarks:

Fordham Law Blockchain Society, Kevin Aguirre, Chairman, James Fitzpatrick & Natalia Venegas, Co-Presidents

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Networking Cocktail Reception.