Nov 21, 2019 - Insurance is a significant industry worldwide: in 2017, total global gross written premiums tallied $4.8 trillion. In this white paper, Henry Kim and Muhammad Izhar Mehar of the Schulich School of Business offer clear guidance for evaluating potential blockchain use cases in commercial insurance. They take a “first principles” approach rooted in historical and economic perspectives and provide a more scientific framework for comparisons. It is a practical work for professionals responsible for sizing up the potential of distributed ledger technology in the insurance industry.

May 25, 2018 - The utility settlement coin (USC) consortium plans to develop what we believe banks will welcome. This case study describes how the USC, launched by UBS and Clearmatics, will use decentralized blockchain technology to confirm financial agreements that are verifiable without the wastefulness of proof of work. Financial institutions could conduct business more safely because of real-time settlement, smart contracts, and enhanced risk management procedures using this new digital version of fiat currencies.

Aug 17, 2022 - Central banks, rev up your digital currency engines! The race to global adoption is on, and this case study of China’s e-yuan captures the first mover in action. Co-led by PhDs—one a fintech advisor, strategy consultant, and researcher based in Hong Kong/Singapore, and the other a professor at the Schulich School of Business in Toronto—the case digs into the Chinese government’s approach to the research, development, and roll out of its digital yuan. The authors analyze China’s digital currency electronic payment in terms of the government’s joint venture with SWIFT, its Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, and the Belt an...

Jun 28, 2021 - This project reports on the state of the enterprise blockchain space. It begins with commentary on the state of the world writ large—from the pandemic’s effects on the economy and the global need for vaccinations to the K-shaped recovery and the consequences of helicopter money (e.g., inflation). It covers a series of developments relevant to enterprise users: the price volatility of cryptocurrencies, the shortcomings of consensus mechanisms for enterprise needs, the growth of stablecoins, the status of tokenless blockchains and blockchain-as-a-service offerings, and the latest on central bank digital currencies (e.g., China’s digital c...

Apr 15, 2020 - This case study looks at Mt Pelerin, which works like a Swiss Army knife in the banking ecosystem. Its full-reserve custodian banking business model excludes on-balance sheet credits, which represents a shift from mainstream banking. Its Ethereum-based open source solution facilitates asset management and cuts ever-increasing compliance costs. It is a must-read for leaders of small to medium enterprises as well as financial service industry innovators.

Apr 30, 2018 - This research surveys the global landscape of regulatory frameworks, statements, and decisions, on blockchain-based token sales in the jurisdictions of the United States, Canada, Singapore, China, France, Germany, Italy, Estonia, Switzerland, and Gibraltar, with commentary on Malaysia, South Korea, Israel, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Arab Emirates. Its expert authors look at initial coin offerings and compare how different regulators are categorizing token sales in their attempts to balance the protection of investors with the stimulus of innovat...