DLA Piper guides Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority as its sole global advisor
DLA Piper guides Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority as its sole global advisor
The progressive approach makes it the world's first independent controller in the sphere
DLA Piper has worked with the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) as its exclusive global legal advisor on the creation of the Emirate's virtual asset-specific regulatory framework.
The Virtual Assets and Related Activities Regulations, 2023, published recently, aim to further VARA's objectives of fostering a vibrant virtual assets ecosystem, promoting innovation, and driving economic growth in the Emirate of Dubai. At the same time, it ensures responsible market participation and consumer protection.
During the formulation of the regulations, VARA was guided by a global team of DLA Piper lawyers from Dubai, Hong Kong, London, and Washington, DC. The team leveraged its regulatory expertise and sector knowledge of both virtual assets and financial services regulations.
The resulting framework takes an activity-based and technology-agnostic approach to set baseline compliance rules for all operators in the virtual assets sector, with incremental requirements added depending on activity.
The regulations apply to all virtual assets and remove some of the complexities persisting in other jurisdictions. This progressive approach is enabled by VARA's unique mandate as the world's first independent regulator for virtual assets.
Kristi Swartz the leading fintech partner, who led the projects at DLA Piper commented, "We are delighted to have supported VARA throughout this unique and ground-breaking project. Though challenging, undoubtedly, it has been one of the most exciting of my career to date. Our work included bench-marking approaches to virtual assets regulation across 20+ countries to identify the best practices, which will help VARA deliver on its objectives and establish Dubai as a leader in the virtual assets sector."
Paul Allen, the partner and global co-chair of intellectual property and technology at DLA Piper said, "In what has been a complex and truly international effort from a cross-practice DLA Piper team, we are excited to have advised VARA in reaching this milestone. Against the backdrop of everything we have seen in the last year, proportionate regulation is the key to unlocking the truly exciting potential of these new technologies, and VARA is leading the way in what those regulations will look like."
Deepa Raja Carbon, the managing director and vice chairperson of the executive board of VARA added "VARA has been focused on creating the first custom virtual asset regime that is progressive, responsive and responsible at its core. The global team of legal and regulatory experts that DLA Piper dedicated to this effort, made them reliable partners throughout the journey. We look forward to establishing regulatory standards that offer cross-border interoperability so that the global business community is able to accelerate maturity across this game-changing industry."
The core members of the DLA Piper team, apart from Kristi Swartz, included Sophie Lessar (partner, London), Margo Tank (partner, Washington, DC), Deborah Meshulam (partner, Washington, DC), Marc Horwitz (partner, Chicago), Deanna Reitman (of counsel, Houston), Amar Fahmy (consultant, Dubai), and Winson Lau (associate, Hong Kong).
The project benefitted from the capabilities of TOKO, the wholly-owned asset tokenization engine that forms part of DLA Piper's law & offerings. The firm was able to leverage the platform's unique combination of legal and technological capabilities to support VARA beyond legal and regulatory advice.
Scott Thiel, the founder, and entrepreneur-in-residence at TOKO, along with the team, supported the technical elements of blockchain and asset creation.
