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Blockchain has the potential of breaking barriers within various industries, including that of insurance. With the current industry subject to fraud and paper-based investments, it has been argued that Blockchain will be able to provide the security needed to minimise fraud and cyber liability. By combining Blockchain and the future of the insurance industry, the conservative system currently in place would be replaced with a sound, transparent system.

This table provides a straightforward answer to how different jurisdictions are regulating and taxing cryptocurrencies and ICOs.

UCITS funds may appoint a UCITS Management Company to act as its manager which will be in charge of overseeing the discretionary investment management of the assets of the scheme itself. The UCITS Management Company may be established in any of the EU member states, and may offer its services to UCITS funds set up anywhere in the EU through the EU Passporting regime.

From a popular buzzword to a revolutionary technology that is ought to redefine an array of operational and business processes, especially within the financial service industry. Undeniably, the investment services sector is a segment of the financial industry which could benefit greatly from the implementation of this distributed ledger technology. Blockchain technology usage is likely to result in reduced operational expenses, as well as the elimination of redundant and time-consuming functions

Blockchain and Banking.While some experts believe that implementing blockchain technology in the banking sector has the capacity to solve multiple challenges, it also presents a double-edged sword for banks. While it could potentially save banks billions in cash by dramatically reducing processing costs, in turn making banks more profitable and valuable, it could also mean that technological developments have attracted many new fintech start-ups to the market.

The insurance industry is fortunately positioned to benefit from blockchain technology. Blockchain can act as a deterrent towards low customer satisfaction as it can reduce fraudulent claims, increase manual process efficiency, save time and money and poise an increased resilience. Indeed, this revolutionary technology is the best solution for the multiple challenges, such as fragmented data sources, policies sitting in silo and legacy underwriting models, that the insurance sector faces.

Blockchain offers ample opportunities for the funds industry.The financial services industry has adopted a more complex model and as a result, an increasing amount of parties are now involved in each transaction. Consequentially, this became a detriment to cost and efficiency when processing transactions. Therefore, blockchain technology is poised to heavily simplify the current fund industry model.

As a result of blockchain technology sparking interest and innovation in various industries and sectors, the financial services industry is poised to become the biggest beneficiary yet. Although banks have been amongst the first entities to test and consider blockchain in their processes, stock exchanges were quick to follow suit. Blockchain technology may very well reverse the risky, complex, costly and time-consuming processes stock exchanges are subject to.

Capital markets are important subsets of financial markets, as they produce monetary output in economies globally, through which securities are bought and sold. The Initial Coin Offering (ICO) is a new method of raising capital, where start-ups create new a virtual token and offer it for public sale. It is expected that the number and size of crypto-funds will grow and bring forth the emergence of decentralized protocols of tremendous value to end users and speculators.

Payment structures are based on messages and rely on exchange of files between several counterparts. The general cross-border non-euro payment lifecycle involves several steps and parties to complete payments, delays which can be countered by Blockchain. The distributed ledger makes it possible to connect all involved parties in a financial trade in real time for the faster processing of payment all while maintaining an audit trail, vital in combatting fraudulent measures and security breaches.