English law recognizes cryptoassets and smart contracts

The panel says the statement supports the view that smart contracts and cryptoassets represent the future in legal terms; and Sir Geoffrey Vos, chancellor of the High Court said that starting with the legal status makes more sense than introducing regulation before legal status has been established.

Linklaters partners with Microsoft on AI and open banking

Global firm Linklaters has partnered with Microsoft to produce white papers on two key parts of the digital transformation across all industries.

The documents focus on artificial intelligence and open banking and were launched against the backdrop of the Singapore Fintech Festival.

A recent survey from Microsoft and IDT shows that 52% of financial services firms in Asia Pacific say they are already on their ‘AI journey’ and are seeing positive results from its use.

“It is fantastic to have such a unique opportunity to collaborate with experts from legal, technology and financial services sectors on this white paper and use the insights and key learnings drawn from our cross-industry group to help translate the responsible AI principles into practice,” said Singapore-based TMT partner Adrian Fisher. 

DWF reports strong growth for International & Connected Services

Global legal services firm DWF has reported strong results for the half year ended October 2019.

Its International operations saw a 28% growth in revenue while its alternative legal services business, Connected Services, grew 18%. Overall Group revenue was up by not less than 10%.

Net partner headcount increased by 20 and there were new openings in Europe.

The Board says it remains confident that the firm will deliver further revenue and profit growth in line with management's expectations.