Smart Contracts & Electronic Agents Seminar | FPA of Miami | 29 January 2019 | London, UK, Eight Club Bank, 1 Change Alley London UK

The first installment of the 2019 Guernsey Seminar Series, which will be held in London, will provide a briefing on the Electronic Agents Ordinance 2019 which places Guernsey in a world-leading position – providing legal certainty in the use of “electronic agents” in transactions and contract matters.

The legislative move builds on Guernsey’s Electronic Transactions legislation, which dates back to 2000, to provide presumptive confirmation that so-called “smart contracts” – where computer code carries out a task in response to information received without further human input – will be legally recognised.

The revised law will allow the formation of a contract through the interaction of electronic agents, on the presumption that natural persons intended to create a legally binding contract. It will also cover interactions between an electronic agent and a natural person. Electronic agents will be able to be involved in transactions in a number of ways without revoking the legal validity of a contract.

Guernsey is leading the way in the creation of a robust and efficient technology landscape that provides a safe, secure and efficient environment for the provision of specialist global financial services, and the move is part of a broader development strategy for the financial services sector in the island. The seminar will also cover the permissive approach of the island’s regulatory regime to technology-based AML solutions.