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The advent of Bitcoin suggested a disintermediated economy to which Internet users can take part directly. The conceptual disruption brought about by this Internet of Money (IoM) mirrors the cross-industry impacts of blockchain and distributed ledger technologies (DLTs). While related instances of non-centralization thwart the regulatory efforts to establish accountability, in the financial domain further challenges arise from the presence in the IoM of two seemingly opposing traits: anonymity and transparency. Indeed, DLTs are often described as architecturally transparent, but the perceived level of anonymity of cryptocurrency transfers fuels fears of illicit exploitation. This is a primary concern for the framework to prevent the misuse of the financial system for money laundering and the financing of terrorism and proliferation (AML/CFT/CPF), and a top priority both globally and at the European Union level. Nevertheless, the anonymous and transparent features of the IoM are far from clear-cut, and the same is true for its levels of disintermediation and non-centralization. Almost fifteen years after the first Bitcoin transaction, the IoM comprises today a diverse set of socio-technical ecosystems. Building on a preliminary analysis of their phenomenology, this dissertation shows how there is more to their traits of anonymity and transparency than it may seem, and how these features range across a broad spectrum of combinations and degrees. In this context, given implemented trade-offs can be evaluated by referring to techno-legal benchmarks, to be established through socio-technical assessments grounded on teleological interpretation. Valuable insights are drawn to this end from the various models of central bank digital currency. Against this backdrop, this work provides framework-level recommendations for the EU to respond to the two-fold nature of the IoM legitimately and effectively. The methodology cherishes the mutual interaction between regulation and technology when drafting regulation whose compliance can be eased by design. Consistently, it presents the idea of creating a transposition model between red flag indicators and techno-regulatory standards, informed by a preliminary risk-based taxonomy of the trade-offs displayed by IoM ecosystems. It suggests its implementation should be informed by an institutionalized and multi-stakeholder model of co-regulation, known in the literature as polycentric. This approach mitigates the risk of overfitting in a fast-changing environment, while acknowledging specificities in compliance with the risk-based approach that sits at the core of the AML/CFT/CPF regime.

In shaping the Internet of Money, the application of blockchain and distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) to the financial sector triggered regulatory concerns. Notably, while the user anonymity enabled in this field may safeguard privacy and data protection, the lack of identifiability hinders accountability and challenges the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism and proliferation (AML/CFT). As law enforcement agencies and the private sector apply forensics to track crypto transfers across ecosystems that are socio-technical in nature, this paper focuses on the growing relevance of these techniques in a domain where their deployment impacts the traits and evolution of the sphere. In particular, this work offers contextualized insights into the application of methods of machine learning and transaction graph analysis. Namely, it analyzes a real-world dataset of Bitcoin transactions represented as a directed graph network through various techniques. The modeling of blockchain transactions as a complex network suggests that the use of graph-based data analysis methods can help classify transactions and identify illicit ones. Indeed, this work shows that the neural network types known as Graph Convolutional Networks (GCN) and Graph Attention Networks (GAT) are a promising AML/CFT solution. Notably, in this scenario GCN outperform other classic approaches and GAT are applied for the first time to detect anomalies in Bitcoin. Ultimately, the paper upholds the value of public-private synergies to devise forensic strategies conscious of the spirit of explainability and data openness.

The technological advancement of the Internet of Things (IoT) is a well-known phenomenon that mainly affects industrial sectors but also consumers in everyday life. The use of Consumer IoT, i.e. CIoT, devices is increasing, and they are paving the way for a Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication that could highly enrich consumer services. In this paper we position ourselves in the narrowing gap between the world of CIoT and the world of money, and we explore the emerging interaction between the payment needs of a M2M Economy and the “new ways of payment”. Indeed, the advent of Distributed Ledger Technology and cryptocurrencies has introduced a tech-oriented dynamism in the monetary and financial sphere. Accordingly, central banks all over the world have started investigations into digital fiat money , i.e., “retail” Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). Against this backdrop, we analyze the integration of retail CBDC models into M2M and CIoT dynamics, while heeding regulation-by-design and compliance-by/through-design methodologies, and we propose a preliminary model of integration between a two-tier retail CBDC architecture and CIoT. ispartof: pages:308-315 ispartof: Proceedings of the 37th ACM/SIGAPP Symposium on Applied Computing (SAC '22) pages:308-315 ispartof: 37th ACM/SIGAPP Symposium on Applied Computing (SAC '22) location:Brno, Czech Republic date:25 Apr - 29 Apr 2022 status: Published online

This research paper focuses on the interconnections between traditional and cutting-edge technological features of virtual currencies and the EU legal framework to prevent the misuse of the financial system for money laundering and terrorist financing purposes. It highlights a set of Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (AML/CFT) challenges brought about in the Internet of Money (IoM) landscape by the double-edged nature of Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLTs) as both transparency and privacy ori- ented. Special attention is paid to inferences from concepts such as pseudonymity and traceability; this contribution explores these notions by relating them to privacy enhanc- ing mechanisms and blockchain intelligence strategies, while heeding both core elements of the present AML/CFT obliged entities’ framework and possible new conceptualizations. Finally, it identifies key controversies and open questions as to the actual feasibility of ef- fectively applying the “active cooperation” AML/CFT approach to the crypto ecosystems. ispartof: pages:1-15 ispartof: Proceedings of the 3rd Distributed Ledger Technology Workshop Co-located with ITASEC 2020 vol:2580 pages:1-15 ispartof: 3rd Distributed Ledger Technology Workshop Co-located with ITASEC 2020 location:Ancona, Italy date:4 Feb - 4 Feb 2020 status: Published online

This research project focuses on the impacts exerted by the tech schemes behind virtual currencies on the EU framework to prevent the misuse of the financial system and it aims to explore legal challenges posed in the IoM landscape by the double-edged nature of DLTs as both transparency and privacy-oriented. On the one hand, it plans to identify effective legislative and regulatory measures to ensure crypto account- ability from an AML/CFT standpoint, as well as to assess the relevant role of pseudonymity. On the other hand, it pursues to discover inno- vative legal approaches to secure AML/CFT active cooperation in the crypto ecosystem(s), to the end of mitigating anonymity and traceability concerns while respecting both the value of publicity and transparency in the law and the conceptual origin of the crypto economy. ispartof: pages:1-15 ispartof: Proceedings of the 2019 JURIX Doctoral Consortium (JURIX-DC-2019) vol:2598 pages:1-15 ispartof: 2019 JURIX Doctoral Consortium (JURIX-DC-2019) location:Madrid, Spain date:11 Dec - 11 Dec 2019 status: Published online

The book deals with the law regarding companies, business activities, and capital markets in Europe, at both the European Union (EU) and Member State levels. This fully updated new edition provides the best-known practical overview of the law regarding companies, business activities, and capital markets in Europe, at both the European Union (EU) and Member State levels. It incorporates analysis of recent developments including the impact of global initiatives in such aspects of the corporate environment as regulation of financial institutions and non-financial reporting obligations with a view to sustainability and other social responsibility concerns. The authors, all leading experts in European corporate law, describe current and emerging trends in such areas of corporate law practice as the following:- rules on cross-border mergers;- employee involvement in business activities;- the initiatives by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the EU to curb tax avoidance;- Member States’ implementation of EU legislation;- a company’s freedom to incorporate in a jurisdiction not its own; - competition among the legal forms of different Member States; and- safeguarding of employee involvement in cross-border transactions.With respect to national law, the laws of Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and the United Kingdom are taken into account; Italy is now included in this new edition.As in earlier editions, the authors demonstrate that analysis and comparison of national corporate laws yield highly valuable general principles and observations, not least because business organizations, wherever located, tend to show a fundamentally similar set of legal characteristics. The Third Edition will continue to be of great value to practitioners and academics who wish to acquire a better understanding of European corporate law, in its supranational dimension as well as in the similarities and differences among the various national legal systems.

Financial applications of distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) generate regulatory concerns. In the crypto sphere, pseudonymity may safeguard privacy and data protection, but lack of identifiability cripples investigation and enforcement. This challenges the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism and proliferation (AML/CFT/CPF). Nonetheless, forensic techniques trace transfers across blockchain ecosystems and provide intelligence to regulated entities. This working paper addresses anomaly detection in the crypto space, the role of machine learning, and the impact of disintermediation.

Central banks and governments all over the world are increasingly exploring digital versions of fiat money, known as retail Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). Most initiatives rely on Distributed Ledger Technologies and are presented as alternatives to physical cash. Consequently, anonymity-related regulatory questions have naturally started to arise in terms of Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing compliance. Against this backdrop, this paper provides a techno-legal taxonomy of approaches to balance privacy and transparency in CBDCs without thwarting accountability, but it also underlines cross-sectoral impacts. The contribution heeds regulation-by-design as its core methodological foundation, with Privacy-Enhancing Technologies as the relevant use case. Thus, it highlights that not only technology aids legal purposes, but also that some regulatory requirements ought to be designed into technology for one to reach agreed-upon results and/or standards. ispartof: IEEE Transactions On Network and Service Management vol:19 issue:2 pages:1776-1788 status: Published online