Comparative Review of the Regulatory Framework of Cryptocurrency in Selected Jurisdictions

This chapter compares the current legal and regulatory landscape of cryptocurrency regulations of selected countries. Countries have adopted distinct and disparate regulatory approaches in regulating cryptocurrency. Countries such as Gibraltar, Malta, Switzerland, Singapore, and certain states in the United States have enacted proactive, enabling, and industry-specific laws to regulate cryptocurrency. The Philippines and Denmark are relatively forward-looking in their endeavour to regulate cryptocurrency by allowing its utilization and/or trade but with a restrictive and cautious approach. Certain countries have imposed rigorous restrictions or banned the usage or trade of cryptocurrency. With the rapid evolution and emergence of cryptocurrency markets, policymakers are adopting different trajectories to develop a suitable regulatory framework to regulate cryptocurrency. Countries around the world should harness the capabilities of cryptocurrency by devising favourable regulations rather than inhibit the application of cryptocurrency.

Xi's personality cult creates hostages to fortune

Significance It signals to the Party and the country at large that Xi, his ideas and his leadership approach have the support, or at least the compliance, of the political elite. Impacts The Resolution's omission of previous criticism of 'personality cults' will make intra-Party criticism of Xi's more difficult. Circumspect language on national security suggests a cautious approach to issues involving the potential for military conflict. The Resolution will add impetus to the policies advanced under the 'common prosperity' slogan.

The Cambridge Handbook of Lawyering in the Digital Age

With increasing digitalization and the evolution of artificial intelligence, the legal profession is on the verge of being transformed by technology (legal tech). This handbook examines these developments and the changing legal landscape by providing perspectives from multiple interested parties, including practitioners, academics, and legal tech companies from different legal systems. Scrutinizing the real implications posed by legal tech, the book advocates for an unbiased, cautious approach for the engagement of technology in legal practice. It also carefully addresses the core question of how to balance fears of industry takeover by technology with the potential for using legal tech to expand services and create value for clients. Together, the chapters develop a framework for analyzing the costs and benefits of new technologies before they are implemented in legal practice. This interdisciplinary collection features contributions from lawyers, social scientists, institutional officials, technologists, and current developers of e-law platforms and services.

Why Europe Does not Need a Constitution: On the Limits of Constituent Power as a Tool for Democratization

In this article, I question the use of the notion of ‘constituent power’ as a tool for the democratization of the European Union (EU). Rather than seeing the absence of a transnational constituent power as a cause of the EU’s ‘democratic deficit’, I identify it as an opportunity for unfettered democratic participation. Against the reification of power-in-action into a power-constituted-in-law, I argue that the democratization of the EU can only be achieved through the multiplication of ‘constituent moments’. I begin by deconstructing the normative justifications surrounding the concept of constituent power. Here I analyze the structural aporia of constituent power and question the autonomous and emancipatory dimension of this notion. I then test the theoretical hypothesis of this structural aporia of the popular constituent power by comparing it with the historical experiments of a European popular constituent power. Finally, based on these theoretical and empirical observations, I propose to replace the ambivalence of the concept of popular constituent power with a more cautious approach to the bottom-up democratization of European integration: that of a multiplication of transnational constituent moments.

New Taiwan opposition leader could ease China tension

Significance He is Beijing's preferred candidate and appears to have a cordial relationship with President Xi Jinping. He takes the helm at a moment when relations with China are the tensest they have been in more than a decade. Impacts Chu will stick to the '1992 Consensus' that there is only one China. Chu will take a more cautious approach to cross-Strait cooperation than Taiwan's last Kuomintang president, Ma Ying-jeou (2008-16). The task of making the Kuomintang a ruling party again will probably require a more charismatic leader than Chu.

FinTech: Ecosystem, Opportunities and Challenges in Saudi Arabia

FinTech is a disruptive international phenomenon that is expected to shape the future of the financial sector. This study describes the features and characteristics of the current Saudi Arabian FinTech landscape and ecosystem. Examples of innovative financial startups in Saudi Arabia, including online banking, transfer and payment services, crowdfunding platforms, peer-to-peer lending, and blockchain initiatives, are discussed. Several changes have occurred within the ecosystem in the last five years; for example, Saudi banks are taking a more cautious approach. However, FinTech initiatives are also being internally developed, encouraging technology companies and startups to focus their efforts on innovations aimed at improving current processes rather than novelty. The government directs its effort mainly toward initiatives related to regulations and laws. Customers are interested in new products that are convenient and easy to use. We compare the Saudi FinTech ecosystem to the United Arab Emirates’ FinTech ecosystem and conclude with recommendations for the different stakeholders.

Causal and Associational Linking Language From Observational Research and Health Evaluation Literature in Practice: A systematic language evaluation

Background: Avoiding "causal" language with observational study designs is common publication practice, often justified as being a more cautious approach to interpretation. Objectives: We aimed to i) estimate the degree to which causality was implied by both the language linking exposures to outcomes and by action recommendations in the high-profile health literature ii) examine disconnects between language and recommendations, iii) identify which linking phrases were most common, and iv) generate estimates by which these phrases imply causality. Methods: We identified 18 of the most prominent general medical/public health/epidemiology journals, and searched and screened for articles published from 2010 to 2019 that investigated exposure/outcome pairs until we reached 65 non-RCT articles per journal (n=1,170). Two reviewers and an arbitrating reviewer rated the degree to which they believed causality had been implied by the language in abstracts based on written guidance. Reviewers then rated causal implications of linking words in isolation. For comparison, additional review was performed for full texts and for a secondary sample of RCTs. Results: Reviewers rated the causal implication of the sentence and phrase linking the exposure and outcome as None (i.e. makes no causal implication) in 13.8%, Weak in 34.2%, Moderate in 33.2%, and Strong in 18.7% of abstracts. Reviewers identified an action recommendation in 34.2% of abstracts. Of these action recommendations, reviewers rated the causal implications as None in 5.3%, Weak in 19.0%, Moderate in 42.8% and Strong in 33.0% of cases. The implied causality of action recommendations was often higher than the implied causality of linking sentences (44.5%) or commensurate (40.3%), with 15.3% being weaker. The most common linking word root identified in abstracts was "associate" (n=535/1,170; 45.7%) (e.g. "association," "associated," etc). There were only 16 (1.4%) abstracts using "cause" in the linking or modifying phrases. Reviewer ratings for causal implications of word roots were highly heterogeneous, including those commonly considered non-causal. Discussion: We found substantial disconnects between causal implications used to link an exposure to an outcome vs action implications made. This undercuts common assumptions about what words are often considered non-causal and that policing them eliminates causal implications. We recommend that instead of policing words; editors, researchers, and communicators should increase efforts at making research questions, as well as the potential of studies to answer them, more transparent.

Outside actors will take a cautious approach to Haiti

Significance The formation of a unity government under interim Prime Minister Ariel Henry may stave off a downward political spiral temporarily. However, other challenges -- including mounting gang violence, the COVID-19 pandemic and severe food shortages brought on by drought and natural disasters -- will be difficult to address, even with international assistance. Impacts Foreign actors will push for early polls, seeing them as the best path out of the crisis, despite domestic calls for a longer transition. Foreign actors will find it easier to offer assistance to Haiti under a government that has been legitimated through elections. Washington’s stake in stabilising Haiti is tied to preventing an influx of asylum seekers to the United States. Washington will push for answers in the case of Moise’s murder, partly because Haiti’s government believes US citizens were involved.