INSIGHTS
PUBLICATION
How Cybersecure Is Your Organization? The 2020 Cyber Pandemic: Lessons and Tips From Four Major Cyberattacks
May 7, 2021, New York Law Journal
Antonia Savaria co-authored a New York Law Journal article about the lessons learned from four major 2020 cybersecurity hacks in different industries (Marriott, World Health Organization, Zoom and Twitter) and practical tips for organizations' cybersecurity programs and cyber incident responses.
PRESENTER
Mitigating Cybersecurity Risks: What General Counsel Need to Know About Current Data Privacy Trends
May 4, 2021, Lawline
This one-hour continuing legal education course provides attorneys with an overview of select US and international data privacy laws, including the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), New York's Stop Hacks and Improve Electronic Data Security (SHIELD) Act, the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and the more recently enacted California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) and Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (CDPA). In addition, through discussion of select data breach statutes, recent enforcement actions/litigation, and lessons learned from cyberattacks, general counsel and other program attendees can gain insight into mitigating cybersecurity risks and minimizing company exposure.
READ MORE (course information, reviews, on demand)
PUBLICATION
The Regulatory Adventures of a Crypto Startup: The Saga Continues
December 18, 2020, New York Law Journal
Antonia Savaria co-authored the final part of a trilogy of articles in which the fictional FinTech startup – NoDoubt Crypto continues its regulatory, legislative and enforcement review adventures in 2020. In this third article, NoDoubt Crypto follows developments with major financial and banking regulators, select state legislators, noteworthy crypto lawsuits and more.
PRESENTER
Blockchain & Digital Assets: 2020 Trends and Developments in the Regulatory, Legislative and Enforcement Landscape
November 5, 2020, Lawline
This one-hour continuing legal education course provided an overview of the legislative and regulatory developments related to FinTech, blockchain and digital assets in 2020 with highlights from the regulatory response to the 2017 ICOs bubble. The course also focused on how regulatory agencies such as the SEC, OCC, FDIC and select state regulators responded to innovation in blockchain and disruptive technologies vis-à-vis established securities and banking laws and regulations, and the US crypto-related enforcement actions and lawsuits that have effect on the blockchain ecosystem in the US and beyond.
READ MORE (course information, reviews, on demand)
SPEAKER
Information Governance, COVID, and Understanding Your Data
October 20, 2020, The Consciously Secure Leader Virtual Conference, PurePoint International
Antonia Savaria discussed the regulatory and legal considerations that may impact businesses in connection with cybersecurity and information governance, including regulations (such as the GDPR, CCPA, breach notification laws), policies and procedures implementation, and she provided practical guidance related to cybersecurity risk reduction activities and how organizations can stay ahead of the curve.
GUEST SPEAKER
Crypto Meets US Banks
August 13, 2020, Hub Security
Invited by Hub Security – a FinTech Firm that offers cryptographic solutions for crypto custodians – to discuss the July 22, 2020 OCC's Interpretive Letter, authorizing US federally chartered banks and thrifts to provide crypto custody to clients. Provided an overview of the major financial regulators in the US, highlights of Interpretive Letter and answered questions regarding why this authorization is a major regulatory step and the challenges of implementation.
WATCH THE DISCUSSION HERE (Timestamp for Antonia's presentation 20:45)
WATCH DISCUSSION HIGHLIGHTS HERE (Safekeeping and Custody; Measures for Implementations)
GUEST SPEAKER
How Blockchain Firms Survive and Thrive in the COVID-19 Crisis
May 15, 2020, Center of Entrepreneurial Finance and College of Business, Stony Brook University
Invited by the Center of Entrepreneurial Finance and the College of Business to speak about how blockchain firms respond/pivot in the crisis, effects on innovation and prospects in the blockchain industry. Discussed initial reactions by different players in the crypto/blockchain space, crypto-scams, regulatory relief and legislative effort.
PRESENTER
Blockchain and Digital Assets: A Review of 2019 Legislative, Regulatory and Legal Developments and What to Expect in 2020
March 2, 2020, Celesq AttorneysEd Center
A continuing legal education course focusing on the regulatory and legislative changes in 2019 that impacted the blockchain and digital assets space on the federal level and highlights of New York developments and what is to come in 2020. In addition to lawyers, this seminar is relevant for both FinTech startups and more mature firms.
PUBLICATION
The Regulatory Adventures of a Crypto Startup: Part Deux
February 6, 2020, New York Law Journal
The regulatory adventures of NoDoubt Crypto LLC – the fictitious innovative FinTech startup – continue with more regulatory twists and turns. This follow up article highlights select regulatory developments including new legislation related to blockchain and digital assets that took place in 2019 and discusses what is to come in 2020.
SPEAKER
4th Annual Global Blockchain Congress, Dubai, UAE
December 8-10, 2019, Agora Group
Antonia Savaria presented on the topic of the evolving legal and regulatory landscape of blockchain and digital assets in the United States. Antonia discussed the regulatory developments in 2019, including an overview of select federal (SEC, CFTC, FINRA) staff pronouncements, no action letters, joint staff statements related to distributed ledger technology and the digital assets space, state level engagement and select enforcement actions, SEC litigation, hot button items and the practical implication on the business of FinServ and FinTech firms.
PRESENTER
Cybersecurity and the Model Rules of Professional Conduct: Ethical Duties Lawyers Need to Know
September 20, 2019, Celesq AttorneysEd Center
A continuing legal education course focusing on cybersecurity issues faced by lawyers and law firms, the interplay between cyber misconduct and the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, including the duty of competence and the reasonable efforts standard under the ethical obligation to secure client confidential information, and actions steps required after a data breach.
SPEAKER
WealthTech Meets RegTech: Bridging the Gap Between Tech and Compliance
April 16, 2019, Stifel
A panel discussion with colleagues from Exiger, Stifel and FinTech Connector provided insights on the evolution of WealthTech platforms, AML and the use of sophisticated big data tools. Antonia Savaria focused her discussion on regulatory and compliance trends affecting FinTech firms.
SPEAKER
FinTech/RegTech Session
April 1, 2019, The Monday Club NYC
The panel focused on FinTech/RegTech and the future of financial services and Antonia Savaria discussed relevant regulatory developments and specifically, regulatory scrutiny of robo-advisers, cybersecurity and regulatory engagement with the FinTech community.
QUOTED
Shutdown Felt by Fund Managers, Lawyers
January 16, 2019, Hedge Fund Alert
Antonia Savaria was interviewed for and quoted in a front page article of Hedge Fund Alert, titled "Shutdown Felt by Fund Managers, Lawyers" published on January 16, 2019. Antonia discussed the impact of the federal government shutdown, and in particular, the Securities and Exchange Commission, on investment advisers and hedge funds.
SPEAKER
Cybersecurity: Technology, Risk and the Law
January 16, 2019, HalfMoon Education
Antonia Savaria discussed trends and developments in cybersecurity law, including cybersecurity legal and regulatory frameworks, GDPR, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, breach notification laws, cybersecurity enforcement, the interplay between disruptive technologies and cybersecurity, and best practices for designing and implementing cybersecurity policies and procedures, among other topics. The traditional format course - designed for attorneys and accountants/CPAs - provided attendees with CLE- and CPE-accreditation.
PUBLICATION
The Regulatory Adventures of a Crypto Startup
December 4, 2018, New York Law Journal
NoDoubt Crypto LLC (NoDoubt Crypto) – a fictitious Delaware limited liability company with its principal place of business in New York, N.Y. – is an innovative new FinTech startup in the digital assets or blockchain/distributed ledger technology (DLT) space. One thing NoDoubt Crypto wants – aside from revolutionizing the way financial markets operate and making a profit – is regulatory clarity. And regulatory simplicity. Okay, two things. NoDoubt Crypto, however, is unlikely to get either. Why? Let us take a look at regulatory developments in 2018.
SPEAKER
Deciphering the Blockchain
September 13, 2018, Fox Rothschild
Highlights of the blockchain, cryptocurrency and digital assets regulatory landscape, discussed by Antonia Savaria include: New York State Department of Financial Services regulatory framework (the BitLicense), New York State Office of the Attorney General Virtual Markets Integrity Initiative, state and federal level engagement, overview of SEC's regulatory developments in 2018 and non-US jurisdictions approach to digital assets.
PUBLICATION
Romancing the Crypto
July 16, 2018, FinTech Connector
Ether and Bitcoin are not securities and not subject to the requirements of the U.S. securities laws, said William Hinman, Director of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Division of Corporate Finance during his June 14, 2018 speech at the Yahoo Finance All Market Summit: Cryptoevent held in San Francisco, CA. A long anticipated and important development, the remarks of Director Hinman provided a sigh of relief for many in the cryptocurrency community.
SPEAKER
Compliance Forum
Keeping Up with Compliance: Leveraging the Latest Solutions in RegTech
June 13, 2018, RIMES Managed Data Services
Highlights of topics discussed by Antonia Savaria:
-
Drivers of Compliance Change
-
Cybersecurity Developments in the RIA Space
-
Statistics from the SEC's Cyber Initiative 1 and Cyber Initiative 2
-
SEC's Cyber Unit and Focus on Current Enforcement Cases
-
How Can RegTech and AI Help Mitigate Cybersecurity Risks?
