The Lex Mundi Bank Finance and Regulation Practice Group meeting that we hosted at our offices last week, brought together lawyers from around the world to discuss key jurisdictional and pan-European developments and share valuable insights. We were honored to welcome Christos Gortsos, Professor of Public Economic Law of the National Kapodistrian University and President of the Academic Board of the European Banking Institute and Vassiliki Lazarakou, Chair of the Hellenic Capital Market Commission and member of the IOSCO and ESMA Management Board.
Professor Gortsos provided an in-depth overview of the legal aspects of the forthcoming Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in the euro area covering issues ranging from the type of digital currency (wholesale vs retail) and the DLT technology used to produce such to the bankruptcy remoteness of the CBDC and its legal tender nature.
Vassiliki Lazarakou deepened delegates’ understanding of ESG regulations on the EU level (including the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive), whilst ‘green washing’ issues were also addressed.
Our Head of Finance, Paris Tzoumas, delivered a presentation on the Consumer Credit Directive 2 (covering its key implementation milestones, its scope of application and potential new licensing requirements for creditors and credit intermediaries) and on AIFM Directive 2 regarding provisions on loan originating funds as an alternative to traditional types of lending. Vivian Efthymiou, associate of our Finance & Capital Markets practice group, delivered an in-depth analysis of the Capital Requirements Directive (CRD) 6 focusing on the new minimum requirements (including reporting and capital endowment rules) for third country branches in the EU.