Giuliano Castellano Contributes to World Bank Group's Guidance Notes on Distributed Ledger Technology & Secured Transactions

Dr Giuliano G. Castellano's immense expertise on the use of digital assets as collateral has helped to shape and inform three substantial guidance notes published in May 2020 by the World Bank Group. The guidance notes are part of new series on Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) & Secured Transactions: Legal, Regulatory and Technology Perspectives. A DLT system is defined as a "distributed computerized system that enables participants (nodes) to submit, validate, and store information into a database (distributed ledger) that is disseminated, synchronized, and maintained fully or partially across nodes, without the need for intermediaries". 

     The first note is titled "Collateral Registry, Secured Transactions Law and Practice". It "examines the potential of DLT within the context of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Secured Transactions" (p 7). The second note considers the regulatory implications of integrating digital assets and distributed ledgers in credit ecosystems. Dr Castellano developed the primary technical content for this note. The third note provides a "primer on [DLT] and highlights the junctures at which this new technology meaningfully impacts secured transactions frameworks" (p 7). DLT is described as a "new paradigm" with the following facets: a "novel database technology", a "novel form of pure intangibles" and "transactional automation" (p 10).
     Dr Castellano was recently appointed by UNIDROIT to be a member of its Working Group on the Model Law on Factoring. Factoring is an important type of financing that is increasinly being used around the world.  "In 2019, global factoring volume reached 2.9 trillion euros." (UNIDROIT website).  Dr Castellano will share his knowledge on teh regulatory aspects that might affect the development of this international instrument.