Total Access Japan: Crypto-Assets and Market Trends

Seminar | April.23.2019 | 6:00pm - 7:30pm (Tokyo Standard Time)

Orrick Tokyo

In response to successful hacks and cyber-attacks of the cryptocurrency exchanges and several Initial Coin Offering (ICO) related scandals in 2018, the Japanese Cabinet announced on March 15, 2019, its draft bill to amend various relevant regulations including to rename cryptocurrencies to crypto-assets and to clarify that certain type of ICOs will be subject to securities regulations, namely, the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act of Japan. As legislation of crypto-assets around the globe continues to develop, various cryptocurrencies have shown signs of recovering from a long bear market. However, cryptocurrency is just one of the applications of blockchain technologies, with much potential for this technology to be used in various industries.

Liquid, through its subsidiary Quoine Corporation, was the first global cryptocurrency exchange to obtain a Japanese cryptocurrency exchange dealer license, and recently announced the first closing of an ongoing Series C funding that puts the company valuation at over US$1 billion, making it the second “unicorn” in Japan’s startup space.

Orrick was recently presented with the Top Law Firm 2019 award at the LendIt Fintech Industry Awards, the world’s renowned event series in fintech and lending, recognizing our firm’s broad fintech practice. Yuko Ino, who leads our Japan fintech practice, and Hiroki Sugita will also discuss the regulatory developments in Japan and other jurisdictions, followed by a discussion with our guest speakers. 

Topics

  • Recent Developments in Regulations in Japan and other jurisdictions
  • Discussion with Market Leaders

There will be time set aside for questions and answers.

Date & Time: Tuesday, April 23 from 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Location: Orrick Tokyo Offices (Map)
Speakers:
Yuko Ino, Partner, Tokyo Office
Hiroki Sugita, Partner, Tokyo Office
Ben Spitz, Senior Legal Counsel, Liquid Group Inc.
Rei Tanaka, Chief Risk and Compliance Officer, Liquid Group Inc.
Language: English (no simultaneous interpretation)
Registration: RSVP by Friday, April 19
Fee: Free of charge

740

Practice:

  • Life Sciences Sector
  • Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Technology Companies Group
  • Fintech

Hiroki Sugita Partner

Tokyo

He also has extensive experience in fund formation, real estate and various types of finance transactions.

Hiroki has a deep understanding of clients’ needs from his secondment experience with a U.S. investment bank in 2005 and a Japanese major trading house from 2012 to 2014.

Prior to joining Orrick, Hiroki worked at O’Melveny’s Tokyo office as a counsel where he mainly worked on cross border M&A.