Upcoming Webinar: Are Singapore based Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) Ready for the FATF Travel Rule?
The first in a series of Merkle Science Webinars looking at cryptoasset regulation and compliance.
Join us for a webinar panel discussion on Thursday, 14th May at 15:00 SGT (UTC+8) featuring:
- Ian Lee, Lead Investigator and Founding Team Member, Merkle Science
- Alexandre Kech, Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder, Onchain Custodian
- Grace Chong, Of Counsel, Simmons & Simmons JWS
- Anson Zeal, Chairman, ACCESS
- Justin Newton, Chief Executive Officer & Founder, Netki
Topics to be discussed:
- What is the FATF Travel Rule for VASPs?
- How does current regulation in Singapore address the travel rule?
- What are AML technology providers doing to help?
- Are Singapore based VASPs ready to comply?
Following the panel discussion there will be an opportunity for audience Q&A.
Register now to learn more about one of the most important topics in cryptocompliance today!
About the Panelists
Ian Lee, Lead Investigator & Founding Team Member, Merkle Science
Ian Lee is part of the founding team at Merkle Science and currently heads up its Singapore operations. A Singapore qualified lawyer, Ian started his career in capital markets but decided shortly after to pursue his passion in business and technology. A strong advocate of a distributed ledger technology, Ian spends his free time promoting blockchain education as Director of Partnership at the Institute of Blockchain and is also a founding member of the Compliance Association & Network of Singapore.
Alexandre Kech, Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder, Onchain Custodian
Alexandre Kech has 20+ years of experience in the capital market industry. From global custody and asset servicing at the Bank of New York Mellon to data standardisation and Head of Securities & FX APAC at SWIFT, Alex has developed a strong post-trade industry leadership experience, extended in recent years to digital assets and blockchain.
Alexandre transitioned to a new challenge in November 2018 when he joined Onchain Custodian as the CEO of the company in charge of building and launching, with Da Hongfei (Chair of the Board), Raymond Cheong (CSO) and El Lee (COO), an institutional digital custody service in Singapore. The solution is live since April 2019.
Onchain Custodian believes in solving non-competitive industry issues through collaboration. Alexandre is the co-chair of the Global Digital Finance (GDF) Custody working group and is the convenor of the ISO TC68 / SC8 / WG3 building an international standard for Digital Token Identification.
Grace Chong, Of Counsel, Simmons & Simmons JWS
Grace has over a decade of experience in advising financial institutions and payments companies on regulatory matters in Southeast Asia, with a focus on Singapore and Hong Kong. A former in-house counsel at the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Grace regularly interacts with key regulators, and is closely involved in regional regulatory reform initiatives.
Grace is a strong advocate for digital innovation, investments and critical infrastructural transformation. She is a payments specialist and has advised multinational technology companies, digital assets exchanges and brokers, stored value facilities, merchant acquirers, and other trade finance and e-commerce companies in relation to licensing and payments services regulations in Asia. Grace sits on the board of Singapore’s key blockchain association, ACCESS, and is part of the AML Working Group of GDF.
Anson Zeall, Chairman, ACCESS
Anson Zeall is the Chairman of ACCESS, Singapore’s Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Industry Association and a committee member of the Singapore Fintech Association. Anson is also the Co-founder/CEO of CoinPip, a payout service leveraging on blockchain technologies. CoinPip is backed by 500 Startups, one of the most prominent venture capital firms in Silicon Valley. He is an instructor of blockchain 101 at General Assembly Singapore. Prior to CoinPip, he ran a private family office in Singapore managing various asset classes, equities, derivatives and real estate. Anson is an alumnus of University of New South Wales and Columbia Business School.
Justin Newton, Chief Executive Officer & Founder, Netki
Justin Newton is the CEO and co-founder of Netki, the leader in digital ID validation solutions for Onboarding, KYC/AML and Travel Rule compliance. Netki’s solutions help wallet providers, exchanges, banks, fintech, governments and any company using blockchain technology comply with recent FATF, FINMA and FinCen guidance, while maintaining the principles of privacy and autonomy on which blockchain and cryptocurrency are founded. Justin co-authored the BIP-75 standard for Travel Rule in 2016, and implemented Netki’s TransactID solution for the first time in 2016.
Justin has strategically positioned Netki to lead the charge in setting standards and policy for enterprise, digital identification, and digital currency ecosystems. Justin currently serves on the Industry/Law Enforcement Portal Working Group of the Blockchain Alliance and the State Legislative Working Group of the Chamber of Digital Commerce. Netki is a highly sought after participant to government-led initiatives on Digital Identity by US Treasury, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the Central Bank of Aruba and other global agencies.
Justin is a pioneer in the development of Internet and blockchain technology. Justin previously served on the Advisory Council for ARIN, the multinational registry for IP addresses and founded ISPC, the first trade association for Internet providers. He played a key role in ensuring the Internet Tax Freedom, the Communications Decency, the Digital Copyright, and the CAN-SPAM Acts aided the Internet industry’s growth while ensuring security and privacy for its users. He is the only person that has contributed to authoring Internet standards (RFCs) and Bitcoin standards (BIPs).
About Merkle Science
Merkle Science provides blockchain transaction monitoring and intelligence solutions for cryptoasset service providers, financial institutions and government agencies to detect, investigate and prevent money laundering, terrorist financing and other criminal activities. Merkle Science is headquartered in Singapore with offices in Bangalore, Seoul and Tokyo and backed by Digital Currency Group, Kenetic, SGInnovate and LuneX.
