Blockchain and cryptoassets: Regulatory and tax issues

Keynote speaker presentation - An introduction/primer to blockchain and cryptoassets

8:45-10 a.m.

Panel - Blockchain: A practical insight

Moderator: Michael King (Ivey Business School)

Panellists: Alan Wunsche, MBA '91, (TokenFunder, Blockchain Canada), Hilary Carter (Blockchain Research Institute), and Grant McDaniel, EMBA '11 (R3)

10-10:30 a.m.

Break 

10:30-11:30 a.m.

Panel - Securities

Moderator: Amy ter Haar (Global Blockchain Consultants)

Panellists: Pat Chaukos (OSC LaunchPad) and Michael Garellek (Gowling WLG)

11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Panel - Tax

Moderator: Laura Gheorghiu (Gowling WLG)

Panellists: Frankie Davenport and Josh Rotstein (both KPMG)

12:30 p.m.

Concluding remarks

Mitch Stein, Ivey Business School

12:30-1 p.m.

Networking 

Hilary Carter, Blockchain Research Institute

Hilary Carter is Managing Director and Director of Research at the Blockchain Research Institute (BRI), a multimillion-dollar blockchain think tank co-founded by Don Tapscott and Alex Tapscott. At the BRI, Carter has built a team of blockchain subject matter experts to study the technology’s applications and use cases in enterprise and government. Her own research projects explore decentralized web applications, as well as the conditions necessary for regions to become thriving innovation economies. Carter is a graduate of the London School of Economics and holds the Certified Bitcoin Professional designation.

Pat Chaukos, OSC LaunchPad

Pat Chaukos leads the Ontario Securities Commission’s initiative, the OSC LaunchPad and is Deputy Director, OSC LaunchPad, Policy. This initiative is committed to modernizing regulation to support FinTech innovation. Chaukos has extensive experience with novel FinTech businesses and previously managed a team that focused on the exempt market, working with many new business models including online trading platforms, lending platforms, and crowdfunding portals. Chaukos holds a Doctor of Laws (JD) from Osgoode Hall Law School and is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA). 

Frankie Davenport, KPMG

Frankie Davenport is a senior manager with KPMG’s Tax Transformation & Technology group in Toronto, and has more than 10 years of experience with KPMG. She works with Heads of Tax and CFOs on a variety of tax and technology projects, including robotic process automation, and has managed blockchain use case workshops for Canadian-based multinationals. She regularly presents at national and international conferences on how blockchain will change the world of tax, as well as the current and potential tax treatment of digital assets.

Michael Garellek, Gowling WLG

Michael Garellek is a lawyer with specialized expertise in financial regulation and compliance concerning financial institutions and the products and services they offer in Canada. He is based in Gowling WLG's Montreal office. He is a Chartered Professional Accountant and, before joining Gowling WLG, he was an inspector with the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) and an auditor with the Office of the Auditor General of Canada. He was active on committees involved with the harmonization of securities regulation in Canada.

Laura Gheorghiu, Gowling WLG

Laura Gheorghiu is a tax partner in the Montreal office of Gowling WLG and a member of the Tech and Blockchain & Smart Contracts Groups. Her practice focuses on cross-border (inbound and outbound) investment structures, corporate reorganizations, and advising domestic and multinational private equity funds. She is also developing an expertise in the application of taxation rules to the technology space, in particular to providers of e-business and blockchain technology solutions. Gheorghiu has been recognized as a Women in Tax Leader 2017 by the International Tax Review.

Michael King, Ivey Business School

Associate Professor Michael King is the Tangerine Chair in Finance and Co-Director of the Scotiabank Digital Banking Lab at Ivey. He began his career in investment banking and trading working in New York, London, and Zurich from 1990 to 1998. After completing his PhD at the London School of Economics in 2001, King worked at the Bank of Canada in Ottawa from 2001 to 2008, then the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in Basel, Switzerland from 2008 to 2011. His research focuses on all aspects of banking, financial technology, international finance, and corporate finance. 

Grant McDaniel, EMBA '11, R3

Grant McDaniel is Country Manager for R3 where he is responsible for engagement activity across R3’s existing Canadian membership. He is also responsible for interactions with Canada’s regulators and with attracting new members to the R3 Lab and Research Centre. He began his career in the telecom sector, serving as Vice President, Outsourcing Services at AT&T Canada. From there he led Corporate Development at Symcor and later held a similar position at INTRIA during the period when Canada’s banks began the roll out of image-based processing. 

Josh Rotstein, KPMG

Josh Rotstein is a senior manager in KPMG’s Indirect Tax group. He brings more than 10 years of tax experience to his role with KPMG where he helps clients achieve a practical and sound understanding of their indirect tax issues. He regularly works with the largest public institutions in Canada. He is a technology enthusiast and is fascinated with the various ways virtual currencies and blockchain can be used. As such, he interprets how indirect tax laws apply to transactions involving new technology that was not contemplated when the laws were drafted.

Mitch Stein, Ivey Business School

Mitch Stein is an assistant professor of Managerial Accounting and Control at the Ivey Business School. He is also Director of the CPA-Ivey Centre for Accounting and the Public Interest. He is a Chartered Accountant who formerly practised in corporate, research and development, executive, and cross-border taxation with Deloitte for 10 years. His research interests span both financial accounting and taxation. In particular, he is interested in corporate governance issues, transparency, and regulation within accounting in terms of broader issues of social control.

Amy ter Haar, Global Blockchain Consultants

Amy ter Haar is the founder of Global Blockchain Consultants, a consultancy focused on the legal, technological, and business aspects of distributed ledger technology. She is an associate at the Creative Destruction Lab, sits on the advisory committee for Globalive Technology Partners, develops curriculum for Osgoode Professional Development, and is a doctoral student at Western University. She produces the "Strictly Legal" podcast for Osgoode Professional Development and is passionate about supporting community development, such as Toronto Legal Hackers, London Legal Hackers, Blockchain Canada, and the Blockchain Hub.

Alan Wunsche, MBA '91, TokenFunder and Blockchain Canada

Alan Wunsche is CEO and Chief Token Officer of TokenFunder, a regulatory-compliant blockchain venture funding platform, and Chair and Co-Founder of  the not-for-profit organization Blockchain Canada. He is a finance technologist focused on new blockchain business models and the disruptive impacts of blockchain on global wealth distribution and innovation. Wunsche is a CPA and Ivey MBA who brings hands-on technology experience as a finance and risk transformation executive at a global bank (Scotiabank), management consulting (Deloitte, PwC), and startups.