Gary Meggitt on Marine insurance fraud and emerging technology (New book chapter)

"Marine insurance fraud and emerging technology"
Gary Meggitt
in Research Handbook on Marine Insurance Law, edited by Özlem Gürses (Edward Elgar Publishing, March 2024), Chapter 14, pp. 275 - 305
Published online: March 2024

Abstract: Marine insurance fraud is probably as old as marine insurance itself. Year after year, the courts hand out judgments- for or against insurers- following lengthy, complex and costly litigation. The losses to innocent shipping companies, cargo owners, agents, brokers, insurers and others, however, go on. Might technology succeed in defeating- or at least deterring- fraud where the ‘law’ has failed? This chapter looks at the use of emerging technology, including smart contracts and artificial intelligence (AI), by insurers and the marine transport industry to combat those who perpetrate marine insurance fraud. It considers how such technology may have resolved some of the more controversial fraud litigation of recent years and how the relationship between this technology and the law may develop in the future.

Syren Johnstone on Regulating for Blockchain Ecosystem Development and Getting Past the Stumbling Block of Regulatory Incrementalism (Stanford Journal of Blockchain Law & Policy)

"Regulating for Blockchain Ecosystem Development Means Getting Past the Stumbling Block of Regulatory Incrementalism"
Syren Johnstone
Stanford Journal of Blockchain Law & Policy, 

Vol. 5 No. 2, 261-269

Published on 29 June 2022
Abstract: This paper explores why we need to think differently about the oversight of cryptoassets to avoid the costs of regulatory incrementalism, and proposes how we might develop a more meaningful regulatory response that better engages with blockchain’s fundamental characteristics.

Syren Johnstone on Before Blockchain and Why it Matters (HK Lawyer)

"Before Blockchain and Why it Matters"
Syren Johnstone
Hong Kong Lawyer,

May 2022, pp. 40-45 (in English and Chinese)

Abstract: To paraphrase a well-known concept, to understand the present and anticipate the future one needs to understand the past. Yet this has in general not been the case with most responders to the emergence of Bitcoin, Ethereum and the whole gamut of public, consensus based blockchain cryptoassets that have come after them.

Syren Johnstone on Blockchain as a Disruptor of Securities Regulation (HK Lawyer)

"Blockchain as a disruptor of securities regulation"
Syren Johnstone
Hong Kong Lawyer, 

April 2022, pp. 40-46

Abstract: While blockchain is often described as a disruptor and disintermediator of commercial activity, it is less common to ponder to what extent securities regulation, and how it is understood and expected to operate, might be disrupted by blockchain and the cryptoasset tokens (hereafter, “tokens”) built on it.

Syren Johnstone on Secondary Markets in Digital Assets: Rethinking Regulatory Policy in Centralized and Decentralized Environments (Stanford J of Blockchain Law & Policy)

"Secondary Markets in Digital Assets: Rethinking Regulatory Policy in Centralized and Decentralized Environments"

Syren Johnstone

Stanford Journal of Blockchain Law & Policy,  
June 2020, Vol. 3 No. 2, pp. 146-188

Abstract: This paper considers the pathway options for the development of a regulated secondary market in digital assets. It explores the conditions necessary to develop a regulatory framework that serves to facilitate the possibilities offered by cryptographic consensus technologies such as blockchain and distributed ledger technology. While centrality has been a useful and hitherto inevitable nexus point for regulatory agencies, the prospect of alternative decentralized environments signals a need to reconsider how regulatory oversight can work to service its intended functions. Existing market integrity controls are also presented with novel challenges in the context of multiple market places for the same digital asset.

     The structural forms of centralized and decentralized cryptoexchange models and the functions served are considered in the context of historical development of exchanges in traditional markets. The different operational concerns, and how regulatory accountability can be established in decentralized contexts, are explored. The non-exchange-like activities that may be undertaken by exchange operators and the challenges arising in relation to intermediary services are reviewed.

     The analysis suggests the development of regulatory policy should be model-neutral, form-independent and focused on functions and outcomes. It should not be imposed in a manner that may inhibit the ability of private markets to develop effective outcomes that align with public policy concerns, or which may cause industry development to cycle back toward extant models rather than evolving more optimal models of commercial and financial activity. Addressing intermediary services, whether provided by a cryptoexchange, intermediaries from traditional markets, or specialized cryptointermediaries, will be part and parcel of effective secondary market regulation. While the different nature of digital assets compared to traditional securities presents difficulties in applying existing regulations, it may also present opportunities for regulatory approaches that utilize their unique digital characteristics. Regulatory agencies must engage the concept of attraction regulation by playing a formative role in directing the industry toward shared goals.

Syren Johnstone on "Fit for Purpose: Blockchain Regulation" (Podcast@Stanford Law School)

"Fit for Purpose: Blockchain Regulation"
Podcast@Stanford Law School

Syren Johnstone
March 2020

Summary: In this episode, Hong Kong University’s Syren Johnstone brings an international perspective to a discussion about blockchain regulation, and asks foundational questions about the relationship between emerging technologies and the law. Are our securities laws the best framework with which to examine cryptocurrencies? How can blockchain and AI help with things like a pandemic response? And, above all, what does it mean for regulation to be “fit for purpose”?  To listen, click here (total time: 1hr, 4min). For the transcript, click here.

Syren Johnstone on Why Coronavirus Crisis Shows a Need to Track Donation Dollars and How China’s Tech Industry Can Help (SCMP)

"Coronavirus crisis shows a need to track donation dollars. Here’s how China’s tech industry, through blockchain and AI, can help"

Syren Jonhnstone

South China Morning Post

5 February 2020

Much anger has been directed at the Hubei Red Cross for its handling of donations intended for the Wuhan coronavirus crisis. After Beijing ordered all public donations to be funnelled through five government-backed charity organisations, there was widespread concern that donations were not being put to use where needed. So, how can we do better in delivering supplies to people in need and instilling confidence in the organisations charged with managing humanitarian crises? Doing better may depend on the modernisation of charities through technology. Click here to read the full text.

Syren Johnstone on COVID-19 versus the Red Cross: Better Solutions via Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence (SSRN)

"A Viral Warning for Change. COVID-19 Versus the Red Cross: Better Solutions Via Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence"

Syren Johnstone

SSRN

Published on 3 Feb 2020

Abstract: “One of the lessons learned was that emergency response must be better developed at the local level.” This is what the Red Cross said on the 10 year anniversary of the deadly Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan province in western China. Billions of dollars had been donated following the Sichuan earthquake but had been “mishandled”.

This article addresses what should be a simple question: how can we do better? Doing better facilitating the delivery of supplies to people in need. Doing better to stimulate confidence in the organizations charged with managing humanitarian crises.

     The present crisis is a call to arms for China’s tech industry, which has the know-how and resources to radically change the landscape of crisis response and the management of donations through the implementation and use of blockchain and artificial intelligence.

     Together with global technologists, fundamental changes are needed to the structure and method of how such crises are handled. The time to develop, on a collaborative basis, borderless solutions to issues of common humanitarian concern is now.  Click here to download the paper.