A team comprising experts from across Allens has advised the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) on its central bank digital currency (CBDC) research project. The project involved the issuance of a pilot CBDC in the form of digital 'tokens' on a distributed ledger platform, directly by the RBA.
The use of the pilot CBDC was tested by approved market participants in a diverse set of use cases, with the goal to understand potential business models, use cases and economic benefits, as well as operational, technical, legal and regulatory challenges which might be associated with issuance of a CBDC.
Lawyers from the firm's Banking and Finance, Financial Services Regulatory, Technology, Media and Telecommunications, and Tax teams played a key role in supporting the RBA to establish the legal framework for the issuance and distribution of the pilot CBDC, and advised on key legal and regulatory issues underpinning the project.
'We are privileged to have played a role on a project that has provided insights into the future of money and how it could evolve. A CBDC could increase efficiency, safety, resilience and innovation across Australia's payment systems and financial market infrastructure,' said lead Partner Yu Zhang.
The RBA has released a report on the findings of the research project. It is available here.
Allens legal team
Banking & Finance
Yu Zhang (Partner), Diccon Loxton (Senior Finance Counsel), Michelle Teng (Finance Counsel), Natalie Ho (Associate), Louis Bridle (Associate)
Financial Services Regulatory
Simun Soljo (Partner), Kerensa Sneyd (Partner), Andrew Shetliffe (Regulatory Counsel), Gabor Papdi (Senior Associate), Virginia Wang (Associate)
TMT
David Rountree (Partner), Isaac Nankavill (Associate)
Tax
Joseph Power (Partner), Tom Tian (Managing Associate), Megan Jones (Lawyer)