Navigating legal challenges in central banking: governance, climate, and innovation

Legal risks Q4 2024

Navigating legal challenges in central banking: governance, climate, and innovation

Date: October 21-23

Location: Virtual

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Niall Lenihan

Senior adviser/ Assistant general counsel

European Central Bank

Diarmuid Murphy

Central Bank of Ireland (currently on secondment to the EU Commission)

Diarmuid has spent a considerable part of his career working on and writing about financial resilience and the operational aspects of central banking, and he has worked across the globe with many central banks and national supervisory and resolution authorities.  

Diarmuid began his central banking career at the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) and was part of the team that played a key role in the CBI’s response to the Irish financial crisis. Diarmuid has also worked in the market operations area of the European Central bank and spent several years at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in both the central banking and crisis management areas, where he participated in the IMF’s technical assistance and Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) work. Having returned to the CBI in 2018, Diarmuid took over responsibility for Brexit and fintech related banking/payment institution/e-money authorisations and banking contingency planning, establishing a new unit. In 2020, Diarmuid undertook a fellowship program with the Financial Stability Institute at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel focusing on crisis management issues.

In late 2021 Diarmuid commenced a secondment to the EU Commission, where he is now part of the Commission’s team responsible for implementing its published Renewed Sustainable Finance Strategy where his focus continues to be on financial resilience issues.

Diarmuid also co-leads the development and delivery of a dedicated comparative central banking module as part of a new online Global Central Banking and Financial Regulation master’s degree course with Warwick Business School (and in partnership with the Bank of England).

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Eamonn White

Independent consultant

Ardhill Advisory and former Bank of England and Hong Kong Monetary Authority

Eamonn is Director of Ardhill Advisory LTD, an independent consulting firm focused on advising financial institutions, central banks, national authorities and international organisations, including the International Monetary Fund, on financial stability policy. This includes advising on prudential regulation, bank resolution, central bank liquidity and crisis management.

Between 2020 and 2022, Eamonn was a senior advisor to the Bank of England (BoE), leading a resolution planning team for a large UK bank as part of the BoE's Resolvability Assessment Framework, contributing to UK resolution policy development and cross-border cooperation with international authorities on resolution issues.

From 2016 and 2019, Eamonn was Head of the Resolution Office at the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). During this time, he was responsible for leading the development of the domestic statutory/regulatory resolution regime for all Hong Kong banks, leading resolution planning for banks in Hong Kong, often in close cooperation with foreign authorities, and contributing to the international cross-border resolution policy framework and resolution plans for global banks through his work as a member of the Financial Stability Board committees and for the cooperative organization of East Asia-Pacific Central Banks (EMEAP).

Before joining the HKMA, Eamonn worked on financial stability topics, including bank resolution at the Bank of England for 4 years. He was also a senior policy advisor to the Chancellor of the Exchequer at HM Treasury (HMT) for 7 years. At HMT he worked at the centre of the UK’s policy and strategic response to the financial crisis, both managing bank failure and the policy response to the Too-Big-To-Fail problem.

In his early career, Eamonn was a diplomat in Washington DC, covering EU foreign policy and trade issues.

Katarzyna Parchimowicz

Assistant Professor

University of Wroclaw

Dr. Katarzyna Parchimowicz is Assistant Professor at the Academic Excellence Hub – Digital Justice Center (University of Wroclaw), Associate Researcher at the European Banking Institute and Research Associate at the Amsterdam Center for Law & Economics. She holds a PhD in law from University of Wrocław and master’s in law and finance from Goethe University Frankfurt. Her research focuses on international and EU financial regulation, especially the regulation of global systemically important banks and new technologies in financial system. She is the author of The Regulation of Megabanks. Legal Frameworks of the USA and EU (Routledge, 2023) and awardee of ECB Legal Research Programme 2022.

Adrian Dumitrescu Pasecinic
Adrian Dumitrescu Pasecinic

Senior Consulting Counsel

IMF

Adrian is a Senior Consulting Counsel in the FF Division. A national of Romania, Mr. Dumitrescu Pasecinic worked at the European Commission as Legal Counsel focusing on Monetary and Central Bank Law and Digital Currency. Prior to this Mr. Dumitrescu Pasecinic worked as a Legal Officer in the Legal Department of the European Banking Authority. Additionally, Mr. Dumitrescu Pasecinic held such positions as a Counsellor to the Legal Department, as Head of the European and International Law Unit, Senior Legal Counsel and Legal Counsel at the National Bank of Romania. Mr. Dumitrescu Pasecinic received his Masters degree from the University of Bucharest, Faculty of Law, Romania, and his PhD from the West University of Timisoara, Romania. Mr. Dumitrescu Pasecinic can be contacted via email at adumitrescupaseci@imf.org.

Agenda

14:0014:15

Course introduction led by the chair

14:00 - 14:15

  • Introductions and welcome from the chairperson
  • Overview of the training course
  • Discussion of the delegate expectations
Niall Lenihan

Senior adviser/ Assistant general counsel

European Central Bank

14:1515:00

The interaction of new mandates, autonomy, and governance: a comparative analysis

14:15 - 15:00

  • Overview of changing central bank function and risk profile
  • Legal foundations of effective corporate governance
  • Comparative analysis of developments in selected jurisdictions
  • Discussion: how are legal departments responding to the impact of current disruptive forces?

15:0015:15

Coffee Break

03:00 - 03:15

15:1516:00

Effectively mitigating legal risk to central banks from evolving climate mandates

15:15 - 16:00

  • Impact of climate change on central banks’ mandates and responsibilities
  • Understanding the legal implications of climate change policies
  • Examples of national and cross-jurisdictional initiatives
  • Discussion: do central banks have sufficient legal powers to effectively contribute to the greening of the financial system? How do they do it?
Diarmuid Murphy

Central Bank of Ireland (currently on secondment to the EU Commission)

Diarmuid has spent a considerable part of his career working on and writing about financial resilience and the operational aspects of central banking, and he has worked across the globe with many central banks and national supervisory and resolution authorities.  

Diarmuid began his central banking career at the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) and was part of the team that played a key role in the CBI’s response to the Irish financial crisis. Diarmuid has also worked in the market operations area of the European Central bank and spent several years at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in both the central banking and crisis management areas, where he participated in the IMF’s technical assistance and Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) work. Having returned to the CBI in 2018, Diarmuid took over responsibility for Brexit and fintech related banking/payment institution/e-money authorisations and banking contingency planning, establishing a new unit. In 2020, Diarmuid undertook a fellowship program with the Financial Stability Institute at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel focusing on crisis management issues.

In late 2021 Diarmuid commenced a secondment to the EU Commission, where he is now part of the Commission’s team responsible for implementing its published Renewed Sustainable Finance Strategy where his focus continues to be on financial resilience issues.

Diarmuid also co-leads the development and delivery of a dedicated comparative central banking module as part of a new online Global Central Banking and Financial Regulation master’s degree course with Warwick Business School (and in partnership with the Bank of England).

16:0016:15

Coffee break

16:00 - 16:15

16:1517:00

The design and strategies underpinning cross-border bank resolution

16:15 - 17:00

  • Key design elements of effective cross-border resolution frameworks
  • Overview of strategies used for cross-border crisis management
  • Tips for effective cross jurisdiction co-operation and coordination
  • Discussion: how to plan for the resolution of internationally active banks?
Eamonn White

Independent consultant

Ardhill Advisory and former Bank of England and Hong Kong Monetary Authority

Eamonn is Director of Ardhill Advisory LTD, an independent consulting firm focused on advising financial institutions, central banks, national authorities and international organisations, including the International Monetary Fund, on financial stability policy. This includes advising on prudential regulation, bank resolution, central bank liquidity and crisis management.

Between 2020 and 2022, Eamonn was a senior advisor to the Bank of England (BoE), leading a resolution planning team for a large UK bank as part of the BoE's Resolvability Assessment Framework, contributing to UK resolution policy development and cross-border cooperation with international authorities on resolution issues.

From 2016 and 2019, Eamonn was Head of the Resolution Office at the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). During this time, he was responsible for leading the development of the domestic statutory/regulatory resolution regime for all Hong Kong banks, leading resolution planning for banks in Hong Kong, often in close cooperation with foreign authorities, and contributing to the international cross-border resolution policy framework and resolution plans for global banks through his work as a member of the Financial Stability Board committees and for the cooperative organization of East Asia-Pacific Central Banks (EMEAP).

Before joining the HKMA, Eamonn worked on financial stability topics, including bank resolution at the Bank of England for 4 years. He was also a senior policy advisor to the Chancellor of the Exchequer at HM Treasury (HMT) for 7 years. At HMT he worked at the centre of the UK’s policy and strategic response to the financial crisis, both managing bank failure and the policy response to the Too-Big-To-Fail problem.

In his early career, Eamonn was a diplomat in Washington DC, covering EU foreign policy and trade issues.

14:0014:45

Towards a legal framework for digital currency and crypto assets

14:00 - 14:45

  • Taxonomy of digital money: CBDCs, crypto assets and e-money
  • What are the key legal aspects for e-money framework based on existing good practices?
  • How to establish legal certainty of crypto assets and address legal risks?
  • How to achieve a solid legal foundation for any CBDC issuance?
Adrian Dumitrescu Pasecinic

Senior Consulting Counsel

IMF

Adrian is a Senior Consulting Counsel in the FF Division. A national of Romania, Mr. Dumitrescu Pasecinic worked at the European Commission as Legal Counsel focusing on Monetary and Central Bank Law and Digital Currency. Prior to this Mr. Dumitrescu Pasecinic worked as a Legal Officer in the Legal Department of the European Banking Authority. Additionally, Mr. Dumitrescu Pasecinic held such positions as a Counsellor to the Legal Department, as Head of the European and International Law Unit, Senior Legal Counsel and Legal Counsel at the National Bank of Romania. Mr. Dumitrescu Pasecinic received his Masters degree from the University of Bucharest, Faculty of Law, Romania, and his PhD from the West University of Timisoara, Romania. Mr. Dumitrescu Pasecinic can be contacted via email at adumitrescupaseci@imf.org.

14:4515:30

How is fintech challenging and changing legal standards and practices?

14:45 - 15:30

  • Impact of disruptive innovation on financial services industry
  • Tips for creating a legal framework that best manages the development of fintech
  • Strategies for balancing innovation with financial stability and consumer protection
  • Discussion: what are the legal issues presented by fintech in participants’ home jurisdictions?

15:3015:35

Coffee break

15:30 - 15:45

15:4516:30

RegTech and Suptech – what are they and how do they work?

15:45 - 16:30

  • Identifying key technologies in the areas of DLT, Big Data analytics, machine learning and cloud computing
  • Evolutionary journey of financial, regulatory, and supervisory technology
  • How has RegTech and SupTech impacted the financial services industry?
  • Examples of applications in regulatory reporting and compliance risk management
Katarzyna Parchimowicz

Assistant Professor

University of Wroclaw

Dr. Katarzyna Parchimowicz is Assistant Professor at the Academic Excellence Hub – Digital Justice Center (University of Wroclaw), Associate Researcher at the European Banking Institute and Research Associate at the Amsterdam Center for Law & Economics. She holds a PhD in law from University of Wrocław and master’s in law and finance from Goethe University Frankfurt. Her research focuses on international and EU financial regulation, especially the regulation of global systemically important banks and new technologies in financial system. She is the author of The Regulation of Megabanks. Legal Frameworks of the USA and EU (Routledge, 2023) and awardee of ECB Legal Research Programme 2022.

16:3017:00

Crisis management, resolution and liquidity facility arrangement

16:30 - 17:00

  • Building blocks for emergency liquidity and funding in resolution
  • Practical challenges around central bank liquidity support in resolution
  • The experience of the Irish banking crisis
  • Country developments around the world
Diarmuid Murphy

Central Bank of Ireland (currently on secondment to the EU Commission)

Diarmuid has spent a considerable part of his career working on and writing about financial resilience and the operational aspects of central banking, and he has worked across the globe with many central banks and national supervisory and resolution authorities.  

Diarmuid began his central banking career at the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) and was part of the team that played a key role in the CBI’s response to the Irish financial crisis. Diarmuid has also worked in the market operations area of the European Central bank and spent several years at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in both the central banking and crisis management areas, where he participated in the IMF’s technical assistance and Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) work. Having returned to the CBI in 2018, Diarmuid took over responsibility for Brexit and fintech related banking/payment institution/e-money authorisations and banking contingency planning, establishing a new unit. In 2020, Diarmuid undertook a fellowship program with the Financial Stability Institute at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel focusing on crisis management issues.

In late 2021 Diarmuid commenced a secondment to the EU Commission, where he is now part of the Commission’s team responsible for implementing its published Renewed Sustainable Finance Strategy where his focus continues to be on financial resilience issues.

Diarmuid also co-leads the development and delivery of a dedicated comparative central banking module as part of a new online Global Central Banking and Financial Regulation master’s degree course with Warwick Business School (and in partnership with the Bank of England).

Eamonn White

Independent consultant

Ardhill Advisory and former Bank of England and Hong Kong Monetary Authority

Eamonn is Director of Ardhill Advisory LTD, an independent consulting firm focused on advising financial institutions, central banks, national authorities and international organisations, including the International Monetary Fund, on financial stability policy. This includes advising on prudential regulation, bank resolution, central bank liquidity and crisis management.

Between 2020 and 2022, Eamonn was a senior advisor to the Bank of England (BoE), leading a resolution planning team for a large UK bank as part of the BoE's Resolvability Assessment Framework, contributing to UK resolution policy development and cross-border cooperation with international authorities on resolution issues.

From 2016 and 2019, Eamonn was Head of the Resolution Office at the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). During this time, he was responsible for leading the development of the domestic statutory/regulatory resolution regime for all Hong Kong banks, leading resolution planning for banks in Hong Kong, often in close cooperation with foreign authorities, and contributing to the international cross-border resolution policy framework and resolution plans for global banks through his work as a member of the Financial Stability Board committees and for the cooperative organization of East Asia-Pacific Central Banks (EMEAP).

Before joining the HKMA, Eamonn worked on financial stability topics, including bank resolution at the Bank of England for 4 years. He was also a senior policy advisor to the Chancellor of the Exchequer at HM Treasury (HMT) for 7 years. At HMT he worked at the centre of the UK’s policy and strategic response to the financial crisis, both managing bank failure and the policy response to the Too-Big-To-Fail problem.

In his early career, Eamonn was a diplomat in Washington DC, covering EU foreign policy and trade issues.

14:0014:45

Immunity from execution of central banks assets

14:00 - 14:45

  • International legislative and judicial trends in strengthening central bank immunities
  • The policy and operational factors behind these trends
  • Discussion: expectations for further developments in this are considering current affairs

14:4515:30

Managing legal risks of taking non-traditional collateral

14:45 - 15:30

  • Overview of the legal risks associated with collateral taking
  • Strategies for the due diligence process of collateral taking
  • Dealing with the legal risks in taking raw loans
  • Discussion: different collateral risks in home jurisdictions

15:3015:45

Coffee break

15:30 - 15:45

15:4516:30

Resolution authorities in court

15:45 - 16:30

  • The calculus of credibility: mandate, reputation, independence and accountability
  • Impact on policy, processes and reputation
  • Case study: lessons learnt from court experience and preparations

16:3017:00

Closing remarks and delegate action plans

16:30 - 17:00

  • Summary of the course
  • Discussion of the observed trends and case studies
  • Application of learning points in the delegates’ home organisations
  • Preparation of action points
Niall Lenihan

Senior adviser/ Assistant general counsel

European Central Bank

At the conclusion of the training, participants will be able to:​​​​​​

  • Learn how Central Banks navigate dynamic legal landscapes, mastering responses to evolving technologies, regulations, and cyber threats.
  • Understand the multifaceted legal risks faced by Central Banks, from digital currencies to policy uncertainties and climate change imperatives.
  • Explore how Central Banks strategically address complex legal challenges, honing skills to navigate diverse issues like political pressures and potential lawsuits.
  • Develop expertise in cross-border collaboration, gaining insights into legal considerations and challenges when navigating international laws and agreements.