Blockchain: Separating Hype from Reality

Hailed as the biggest digital innovation since the internet, blockchain is the virtual infrastructure that is changing the way we work. According to the World Economic Forum, 10 per cent of global GDP would be stored using blockchain by 2027. Estimates indicate that supply side improvement, such as cost and time savings, could increase global GDP by nearly five per cent and trade volumes by 15 per cent. The technology is poised to disrupt across a plethora of industries, including finance, insurance, logistics, energy and transportation. At the corporate level, the potential of blockchain has been recognised for some time, and efforts to commercialise the technology have gone beyond start-ups.

Despite these advances, there has been growing backlash from opinion leaders and regulators as the technology’s drawbacks become better known. The time is ripe for businesses and governments to re-examine blockchain’s role in the global economy.

Key areas of discussion include:

• the potential of blockchain to change world trade
• when and where disruption is most likely to happen
•  winners and losers in blockchain
• the associated concerns that come with blockchain’s regulation

The conference will explore the current and future opportunities blockchain might bring as well as challenges it poses to companies and consumers.

The agenda is as follows:

• 09.00    Registration
• 09.30    Welcome Remarks: Michael Lawrence, Chief Executive, Asia House
• 09.35    Keynote speech: Mary Starks, Director of Competition and Chief Economist, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
• 09.45    The disruptive potential of blockchain: Michael Lawrence in conversation with Mary Starks
• 09.55    Panel discussion: Blockchain: Uncovering the commercial opportunities and risks
• 11.30    Networking reception

Confirmed Speakers include:

	Mary Starks, Director of Competition and Economics and Chief Economist, Financial Conduct Authority  Previously Mary was a Senior Director at the OFT, where she had worked since 2008.  Among other things Mary was responsible for the OFT’s financial services work, and its change programme. She is an economist by background, and has previously worked at the New Zealand Commerce Commission, NERA Economic Consulting and the Bank of England.
	Wolfgang Richter, Partner, DWF Wolfgang’s main focus at DWF currently is on FinTech issues, in particular Initial Coin Offerings, Blockchain and crypto currency structures. With 20 years of experience as a Banking and Finance lawyer he continues to advise on M&A deals in the financial sector, real estate finance, securitizations, non-performing loan deals, as well as equity and debt structuring.
	Pilar Santamaria, Innovation VP and CTO for EMEA, Dell Pilar Santamaria is an IT leader with over twenty years´ experience in GTM, engineering and product management. She held local and international positions at Microsoft, Cisco, Nortel and Siemens. She has been nominated Cloud Expert by the European Commission and is a professor and researcher at the European University of Madrid.
	Barry Childe, Research Director, Distributed Ledger, Cyber and Cryptocurrency Technology; Applied Innovation & Strategic Investments; HSBC Bank Childe has 40 years experience in Financial Services technology and is an Investment Banking & Digital Business specialist, noted for his work on Grid, Cloud Computing, DLT, Cybersecurity and Quantum computing solutions within the Financial Services space.

This conference is organised by Asia House, in partnership with DWF. To register your interest in attending, please contact Aini Abdullah in the Business and Policy Team at: aini.abdullah@asiahouse.co.uk

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