Webinar 1.2: MiCA’s future standards and guidelines

Siân is Chair at XReg Consulting, a group of former regulators with practical experience in formulating public policy and developing regulation for blockchain, Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and cryptoassets.

As XReg’s strategy and public policy lead, Siân’s background in regulation and extensive experience in policy formulation, regulatory framework development and implementation is leveraged by governments and public authorities to guide the development of policies within their jurisdictions, as they come to terms with the new frontier of cryptoassets and with the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) standards and guidelines as they apply to virtual assets and virtual asset service providers (VASPs).  

Siân led a global initiative to develop a new standard for interVASP messaging to assist the virtual asset industry to more rapidly respond to the FATF Recommendations. She is also a member of the International Standards Organisation (ISO) technical committee on DLT and has sat as an expert on several of its working groups. She also sits on the BSI National Mirror Committee on DLT, the Financial Markets Law Committee DLT working group and, until July 2019, was a delegate and technical expert on virtual assets on the FATF’s Policy Development Group. Siân also leads the Brussels-based European Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology Forum, a public policy platform helping EU policymakers and legislators shape sound policy and regulation.

Before XReg Consulting, Siân was seconded to the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission as Senior Adviser on DLT, having previously architected Gibraltar’s DLT regulatory framework. Her 48-year career in information technology, security, data protection and compliance has included working in Europe, the Middle East and Asia in industries as diverse as banking, transport, healthcare, pharmaceuticals and security.

As a Senior Consultant for XReg Consulting, David leads on client engagements for licensing and registration applications, independent audits and assists in the development of risk management frameworks. He also plays a pivotal role in the onboarding of prospective clients. While at XReg, he has worked with regulatory authorities to draft virtual asset rules and guidance and other public sector bodies to draft legislation. He also made a significant contribution to Crypto UK’s working group on virtual asset financial promotions.

David began his career at the Guernsey Financial Services Commission where he was responsible for the ongoing supervision and risk assessment of a portfolio of banks and insurance companies. He later joined the Commission’s Enforcement team, where he undertook investigations into potential regulatory breaches by licensed financial services companies and individuals. During his time at the Commission, David also worked with the Intelligence team, identifying and preventing fraudulent financial conduct.

Following his time at the GFSC, David joined EY Gibraltar as a Senior Consultant where he undertook a range of client consultancy work including internal audits and AML risk assessments, the development of policies and controls, and assistance with regulatory compliance. Whilst at EY, David completed a number of secondments to financial services firms and public sector bodies in Gibraltar.