The Suitability of applying Smart Contracts within the OTCDerivatives Market - a Legal and Technical Analysis

• Auteur / Autrice : Benedikt Schuppli
• Direction : Thomas Perroud
• Type : Projet de thèse
• Discipline(s) : Droit comparé
• Date : Inscription en doctorat le 23/11/2018
• Etablissement(s) : Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas
• Ecole(s) doctorale(s) : École doctorale de droit international, droit européen, relations internationales et droit comparé (Paris ; 1992-....)

Résumé

In this dissertation, the author intends to: - Provide a detailed account of the methodology utilized to perform the envisaged legal and technical analysis; - Provide a comparative analysis of the regulatory regimes governing OTC derivatives in various jurisdictions (France, United Kingdom and Switzerland); - Assess the legal validity of smart contracts under various legal regimes (French, British and Swiss); - Analyze the difference between on- and offchain smart contracts and the ensuing implications for the suitability of smart contracts within the derivatives market; - Assess the technical and legal requirements for a smart contract framework (including e.g. the programming language) suitable for executing derivative financial contracts; - Provide a comprehensive analysis of the existing smart contract solutions (both off- and onchain; Ethereum, DAS etc.) and how they fulfill the suitability requirements obtained hereinabove (technical analysis); - Provide a comprehensive analysis of the different regulatory regimes governing OTC-derivatives (France, United Kingdom and Switzerland) and how they fulfill the suitability requirements obtained hereinabove (legal analysis), including the assessment of whether smart contracts may foster extralegal OTC-derivatives transactions and the implications thereof; - If the author ascertains impediments in existing regulatory regimes governing OTC-derivatives in regard to the implementation of smart contracts, the author will evaluate and propose a suitable, outcome-based regulatory framework for smart contract-based OTC-derivatives which achieves functional equivalence with existing regulation.