The rapidly increasing adoption of blockchain technology and digital assets across the globe makes it a mandatory task for financial institutions to address these topics.

After all, their traditional value creation with its focus on cost and income offers a wide range of use cases for a successful implementation. In our day-to-day consulting work, we see how the developing ecosystem for DLT & digital assets is continuously gaining momentum.

For financial institutions, the crypto world holds great potential.

From an investor’s perspective, services in the context of DLT and digital assets solve several problems at once as they satisfy the need for both safety and convenience. This applies equally to secure wallet and private key custody as well as, for example, a regulatory-compliant brokerage solution. Therefore, investors increasingly look to financial institutions as trustworthy partners.

Against this backdrop, regulation regarding DLT and digital assets is also tightening. For instance, ECB President Christine Lagarde told the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs in late November 2022 that regulating crypto-assets in the EU was an absolute necessity. Currently, “Markets in Crypto-Assets” (MiCA), a draft regulation from the EU Commission, is already on its way through the European Parliament. In addition, the so-called DLT pilot regime also enables innovative blockchain applications for trading in DLT financial instruments to be tested at the European level within the framework of a regulatory sandbox. Last but not least, German lawmakers are striving to play a pioneering role within the EU, as evidenced above all by the Electronic Securities Act (eWpG), which came into force in June 2021. The latter is part of the German government’s blockchain strategy and provides the legal framework for electronic securities, which can henceforth be issued and transferred without a paper document by registration in an electronic securities register. These and other regulatory requirements specific to DLT and digital assets should be analyzed with a critical eye and implemented by financial institutions from the strategic level of top management to all organizational departments.

In addition, the demands of society, reflected in changing investor and employee behavior, make it clear that DLT & digital assets are increasingly becoming a competitive factor driving success. This means that a multitude of new requirements now need to be addressed: from strategy development and the implementation of viable business models to systemic adjustments to existing structures and business practices.

Early qualification of all employees of financial institutions is therefore indispensable.

To enable financial institutions to quickly adapt these aspects to their specific needs while taking regulatory requirements into account from the outset, we offer certificates on the topic of DLT & Digital Assets that vary in terms of content and scope.