Fintech and Financial Markets Infrastructure—A Legal and Regulatory Perspective

Abstract

Abstract This chapter explores the potential and challenges faced by blockchain technology in the context of six key activities: payment services, securities trading, securities clearing, securities settlement, custody, and the trading of derivatives. It describes each of the six key activities and the law as it currently stands, the potential for technological change, and the ways in which the applicable law and regulation might need to be amended or supplemented. It also explains blockchain as a specific application of a technology known as Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) that relies on peer—to—peer networking, distributed data storage, and cryptography. This chapter refers to both the general technology and the specific application as DLT. It also mentions hash as the immutable cryptographic signature that records transactions in the blockchain.