UNCITRAL Colloquium: Navigating the new era of digital finance - The UNCITRAL Model Law on Secured Transactions on the use of new types of assets for secured financing
Venue: United Nations Headquarters New York In-person
Time: 10-13; 15-18 New York time (UTC-5)
At its fifty-seventh session, in 2024, the Commission noted the emergence of new types of assets that could be used as collateral in international finance (including digital assets, data, verified carbon credits and crop receipts) as well as the development of new international financing practices. The Commission also noted legislative efforts by international and regional organizations to address transactions involving such assets as well as the evolving legislative approaches of States to legally characterize those new types of assets. It thus requested the UNCITRAL secretariat to organize a colloquium to clarify and refine various aspects of possible future work in the area.
In accordance with that decision, a UNCITRAL Colloquium (Navigating the new era of digital finance - The UNCITRAL Model Law on Secured Transactions on the use of new types of assets for secured financing) will be held on 20-21 February 2025 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York with the aim to:
- Improve the understanding on how the emergence of new asset types impacts the Model Law on Secured Transactions and other UNCITRAL texts in this field;
- Take stock of legislative developments by States in their domestic laws and international and regional organizations with regard to secured transactions including new types of assets;
- Take stock of international financing practices using such assets; and
- Assess whether developments related to new types of assets should be considered in the Model Law so to better assist States.
The Colloquium wills consists of panels addressing (i) the UNCITRAL Model Law on Secured Transactions and other UNCITRAL texts in this field, including the Supplement on Intellectual Property; (ii) implementation of secured transactions reforms by States and international organizations; (iii) digital economy digital assets (e.g. Art-NFTs, endogenous digital assets) and data as collateral; (iv) trade and supply chain finance; (v) receivables and transport documents as collateral; (vi) agricultural finance: crop and warehouse receipts as collateral; (vii) climate change finance: voluntary carbon credits as collateral/project financing; (viii) regulatory finance and coordination: central bank digital currency; and (ix) aspects related to the registry operation: methods, best practices, and technologies.
Registration
In late November and early December, invitations to the Colloquium were dispatched to the Permanent Missions of all UN Member States,as well as to intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations invited to the Commission. The invitation includes INDICO registration details. INDICO registration details are contained in that invitation. Please contact the Permanent Missions or the respective organization to be nominated as the respective representative and register via the INDICO link.
In addition, a limited number of individuals may be invited to attend the Colloquium from the public. For any inquiries, please write to the secretariat (uncitral@un.org) copying Mr. Aurelien Kamdem Bansi (aurelien.kamdem-bansi@un.org).
Call for speakers
The UNCITRAL secretariat is inviting government officials, scholars and practitioners to make short presentations during the Colloquium on the topics mentioned above. Those interested should submit an abstract of no more than 250 words to the secretariat (uncitral@un.org) in any of the official UN languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish) by 31 December 2024. Speakers selected to contribute to the Colloquium will be notified by mid-January. They will be responsible for making their own travel arrangements.