Canadian Lawyer

w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m M A Y 2 0 1 8 31 Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, Montreal-based BCF Business Law and Bennett Jones. The latter is a member of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, a crypto-currency focused non-profit that has attracted approximately a quarter of the world's 100 largest law firms, a spokesperson told Canadian Lawyer. But besides boutiques, big firms and hourly billings, North American lawyers (including many Canadians) are using block- chain to build businesses that cut cost and errors out of legal service delivery. For example, internet-based firms Loci InnVenn and Open- Law, respectively, allow inventors to improve time stamping of intellectual property claims and lawyers to automatically generate legal agreements and embed smart contracts that can be executed on blockchain. A third company, Integra Ledger (where ter Haar is president of the Canadian operation), provides a permissioned blockchain to increase the integrity of legal documents. Also on the board of Blockchain Canada and the Blockchain Hub, ter Haar teaches tech law via Osgoode Hall's professional development program and co-runs legal hacking events in Toron- to and London, Ont. She told Canadian Lawyer that Integra Ledger will provide the legal industry with a standardized and secure platform allowing hundreds of existing and future legal tech software companies to "seamlessly connect and deliver their apps to a much larger universe of law firms, corporate clients and individual clients" — while also cutting cost and complexity. Says ter Haar, "Blockchain, combined with modern cryptog- raphy, offers the possibility of authoritative systems of record that are securely shared between firms and clients. Integral's goal is a universal backbone and technology platform that empowers firms and clients to interact and inter-operate with much greater efficiency and security. We see a blockchain that all firms and clients can use to manage communications, documents and A ccording to Coinschedule, new crypto-currency offerings raised more than $3.4 billion in 2017 — and they had, as of late February, raised a further $2 billion this year. Last August, six of the world's largest banks began work- ing together on a new form of digital cash for clearing and settling financial transactions over blockchain. Japan accepts Bitcoin as legal tender – unlike Bangladesh, where for anti-laundering reasons, using crypto-currency is illegal. In Europe, Luxembourg's government has begun develop- ing a blockchain-based identity platform it hopes to use in everything from tax filing to regulatory enforcement, while insurance giant AXA has announced "self-executing" contracts based on blockchain technology capable of automatically compensating customers for delayed flights. And busi- ness advisory giant EY has announced a blockchain-based platform for global shipping insurers that aims to connect clients, brokers, insurers and third parties to distributed common ledgers that capture data about identities, risk and exposures and automatically feed it into contracts. In the U.S., Delaware has changed its corporate laws to enable blockchains for share registries, Vermont has admit- ted blockchain-based records as court evidence and Arizona reportedly acknowledges the legality of signatures and con- tracts secured on blockchain. Here in Canada, the Canadian Stock Exchange (an alternative stock exchange) wants to record stock purchases and sales via a blockchain. In late March, the TMX Group said its subsidiary Shorcan Digital Currency Network was working with Paycase Financial, a Toronto-based value network and trustware provider for decentralized financial services to launch a new crypto-currency brokerage service focused on Bitcoin and Ether. BMO Financial Group will provide Shorcan DCN with banking services as part of the payment and settlement infrastructure. At the same time, the Ontario Securities Commission is using its "Launchpad" project to explore the technology. Meanwhile, Payments Canada's Project Jasper has seen Ottawa work with several Canadian banks to explore how the Large Value Transfer System could transition to blockchain. BLOCKCHAIN GOES GLOBAL CORPORATE COUNSEL Connect with Find more than 4,100 corporate counsel and over 1,500 organizations along with fresh editorial content, information on deals and links to important resources. Lexpert.ca/ccca ntitled-5 1 2018-04-23 2:03 PM

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