On 8 November 2019 Professor Tibor Tajti and SJD Candidate Giulia Priora presented their work at a conference on “Corporate Strategy and Governance in the Digital Age,” organized by the Universita degli Studi di Milano in Milan, Italy. The Conference focused on the challenges that new technologies pose for businesses, in particular in terms of corporate governance and the formulation of corporate strategies.
Professor Tajti gave a keynote speech on the implications of the fall of the German DAO blockchain-based scheme in light of the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s conclusion in July 2017 that DAO tokens were securities, and the application of the ‘Howey test’ to include such unorthodox investment schemes. He argued that the US’s open-ended definition of securities affords more protection to consumer-investors than the European approach to securities regulation. Professor Tajti further illustrated these problems by reference to a Hungarian case in which a group of thieves were able to make Bitcoins ‘disappear’ through a series of quick transfers to a large number of accounts.
Giulia Priora presented an overview of the main legal challenges raised by the rapid growth of the collaborative economy. Emphasizing the diversity of collaborative economy businesses and their ‘hybrid’ nature, she argued in favor of more accurate definitions of service providers, intermediaries, and users, and demonstrated the benefits of a solid, evidence-based regulatory response for users and companies alike.
