‘DeFi: Shadow Banking 2.0?’ with Hilary Allen, Professor of Law, American University

Date: Thursday, May 12
Time: 12pm to 1pm EST

Professor Allen will discuss her recent paper “DeFi:Shadow Banking 2.0?” (https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4038788) which discusses the parallels between the wave of shadow banking that precipitated the 2007-8 crisis, and the developing DeFi ecosystem. She will explain why we need to take a more critical and precautionary approach to financial innovation in general and crypto in particular. This kind of approach suggests that if DeFi cannot deliver on its promises of decentralization (and Professor Allen will argue that true decentralization is an unrealistic aspiration), then regulators should feel emboldened to clamp down on it in order to protect the stability of our financial system and broader economy.

Please Note: The link to the webinar will come in the ticket email. If you do not receive a ticket email or the event link by 11am the day of the event, please contact the NEC for that or any other questions at manager@national-economists.org.

About our speaker:
Professor Hilary J. Allen is a professor of law at American University’s Washington College of Law. She is a nationally recognized expert on financial stability regulation, having testified before the House Financial Services Committee and the Senate Banking Committee and authored more than 15 law review articles on the subject. Earlier this year, she published the book “Driverless Finance: Fintech’s Impact on Financial Stability” with Oxford University Press.

Professor Allen received her Bachelor of Laws from the University of Sydney, Australia, and her Master of Laws in Securities and Financial Regulation Law from Georgetown University Law Center where she graduated first in her class. Professor Allen also spent seven years working in the financial services groups of prominent law firms in London, Sydney, and New York. In 2010, she worked with the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, which was appointed by Congress to study the causes of the financial crisis of 2007-2008. (Read more here)