Cryptocurrencies have come of age holding the potential for faster and cheaper financial transactions than traditional payment models, creating alternative decentralized asset markets and driving significant innovation via the underlying networks that they run on. However, valid concerns exist and range from criminal activities such as money laundering and tax evasion to the safety of digital assets in a currently minimally regulated online world to the impact growth in cryptocurrency adoption might have on the stability of our financial markets. Come hear Lee Reiners, the executive director of Duke Law’s Global Financial Markets Center, provide us with a current state of affairs on the world of cryptocurrencies, what the future has in store for us with such digital assets and the public policy that needs to be put in place to ensure safe and well-functioning markets.
Lee Reiners joined the Duke Global Financial Markets Center as executive director in 2016. At Duke Law, Reiners teaches FinTech Law and Policy as well as seminars relating to financial policy and regulatory practice. His broad research agenda focuses on how new financial technologies fit within existing regulatory frameworks (here). His work has examined the risks associated with cryptocurrency derivatives (here), the rise of digital investment advice, and corporate governance failures within the financial industry (here and here). He writes frequently on FinTech and other financial regulatory matters on The FinReg Blog and speaks with financial policy experts on the Global Financial Markets Center’s podcast, The FinReg Pod.
Prior to joining Duke Law, Reiners worked for five years at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY), first as a supervisor of systemically important financial institutions and then as a senior associate within the executive office. In the latter capacity, he helped coordinate the FRBNY’s engagement with international standard-setting bodies, such as the Bank for International Settlements and the Financial Stability Board. While at the FRBNY, Reiners worked closely with other federal and state regulatory agencies.
Reiners has previously taught corporate finance and managerial economics in the MBA Program at Saint Peter’s University. In 2004-2005, Reiners served as a U.S. Army communications specialist in Baghdad, Iraq.
Reiners received a BSc in business economics, summa cum laude, from the University of St. Thomas and a MPP with a global policy concentration from Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy. Reiners holds the chartered financial analyst designation.