Ross Buckley
Ross
Buckley
Scientia Professor

I joined the Faculty in January 2007, and was appointed a Scientia Professor, and to the King & Wood Mallesons Chair in International Finance Law, in 2013. This research sponsorship was expanded in 2018, with KPMG Law coming on board, and the Chair being renamed the KPMG Law - KWM Chair in Disruptive Innovation and Law.

My current research focus is on FinTech, RegTech and blockchain generally. My current particular focus is on cryptocurrencies, central bank digital currencies and initial coin offerings.

My research on FinTech and RegTech has been downloaded more frequently from the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) than that of any other social scientist in the world (with my usual co-author, Doug Arner, ranking second). My research across all fields of law has been the second most frequently downloaded in the past 12 months from SSRN (after Cass Sunstein's), and, again, with Doug's work next in the rankings. My joint work with Douglas, and now also Dirk Zetzsche, is routinely cited in most scholarly analyses of FinTech, RegTech and liabilities of blockchain.

Since 2013, I have led two major sequential projects on the delivery of financial services over mobile devices, in developing countries. I led a team of three to four researchers on this project, funded by a large ARC Linkage grant in conjunction with, and generously supported by, the United Nations Capital Development Fund. 

I am currently, with my international co-authors, participating in two major, multi-year international research projects on aspects of the regulation of FinTech and RegTech, funded by the Hong Kong Research Grants Council Research Impact Fund Grant and by the Qatar National Research Fund National Priorities Research Program Grant. Each is for upwards of A$800,000.

I consult at the moment to the Asian Development Bank and over the years have consulted to many government departments including those of Australia, Indonesia, Malawi, Nepal, Timor Leste, Solomon Islands, Vietnam and to the West African Economic and Monetary Union and to three government agencies in the US (the OCC, SEC, and Department of Justice). I began my career practising banking and finance law in Australia and Hong Kong and on Wall Street with Davis Polk, in total for some nine years.

Areas of expertise

FinTech, RegTech, blockchain, cryptocurrencies, initial coin offerings, smart contracts, and digital financial services more generally.

Professional Memberships and Affiliations

Chair, Digital Finance Advisory Panel, Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC).

Founding Series Editor, Global Trade Law Series, Kluwer Law International, The Hague.

Series Co-editor, Kluwer's International Banking and Finance Law Series.

External Examiner, Faculty of Law, University of Hong Kong.

Fellow & Advisory Board Member, Asian Institute of International Financial Law, University of Hong Kong.

Research Supervision

If you are interested in working with me, you should be fascinated by FinTech or RegTech and the regulatory challenges that the rapid spread of blockchain technology to new applications will generate.  I have the capacity to supervise one more highly committed candidate.

I have previously supervised 12 doctoral students through to successful completions.

 

See my researcher profile here