On November 24, 2025, an event of the Research Center for Banking and Capital Markets Law as well as Capital Market Criminal Law took place once again as part of the lecture “Capital Markets Law” (Specialization Area 2 and Specialization Area 3). The Chair of Civil Law, European and International Business Law (Prof. Dr. Petra Buck-Heeb) had invited to this event.
Dr. Anika Patz could be won as a guest speaker. The speaker advises banks, financial services and securities (trading) institutions, fintechs as well as stock exchanges and multilateral trading platforms, particularly on supervisory issues, compliance, and money laundering topics. Ms. Patz specializes in Distributed-Ledger-Technology-(DLT-)based business models and regulatory questions regarding the issuance, trading, staking, lending, and custody of crypto-assets, including Security Token Offerings (STOs), stablecoins, and non-fungible tokens (NFT), as well as on central and decentralized exchanges for crypto-assets and decentralized finance protocols.
The lecture by Ms. Patz provided insight into legal work in a dynamic, ever-changing regulatory environment. Using concrete examples from her professional life, she illustrated the development of the regulation of digital assets and crypto-assets and explained how, as a lawyer, she guides companies through the respective complex process.
Initially, the – after graduation – first client case regarding security tokens, which were to be offered throughout Europe, was described as an example. Starting from the concept of securities under European and German law, the speaker described the practical legal handling, for example regarding trading platforms. The creativity required in corresponding legal advice was also emphasized. Furthermore, for example, dealing with the (European) capital market supervisory authority, ESMA, was addressed.
Furthermore, she explained the role of the DLT Pilot Regime, which has been possible since March 2023, in this context. Based on the EU Pilot Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2022/858), it defines which DLT financial instruments can be traded. The connection with the already established legal framework for electronic securities or the eWpG (Act on Electronic Securities) of 2021 was made clear. In this respect, the legislator had responded to market needs through regulatory law. She then described her involvement with the DLT Pilot Regime during her work at Börse Stuttgart and later again in legal practice, for example with regard to 21X as a so-called DLT-TSS (a combination of the function of a trading system with that of a settlement system).
Another field the speaker deals with is the response to new legislative initiatives, where legal input is provided in hearings and, if necessary, clients are advised. In this context, the limitations built into the DLT Pilot Regime were addressed. Legislators are now expected to respond to criticisms of these, likely in December 2025. In any case, according to the speaker, corresponding adjustments are to be expected in response to the market within the next four years. Here, in particular, the four-year limitation is expected to be lifted and the product limitation dropped.
Ms. Patz also presented the procedure for the licensing process for crypto-exchanges under MiCAR. The starting scenario was that a client wishes to engage in trading and custody of crypto-assets. Accordingly, the structure of the corresponding (young) company was described and it was made clear what conditions must be fulfilled for this. It was emphasized that currently very few managing directors can be found with DLT-based expertise and, thus, are considered suitable by the supervisory authority. In addition, shareholders, i.e., the beneficial owners, also need to be considered. Finally, the entrepreneurial implementation of the so-called DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act, Regulation (EU) 2022/2554), in force since January 2025, regarding the IT security of the relevant companies was also discussed. Here, too, dealing with the supervisory authority plays a major role.
Finally, the aspect of internationality was addressed. Foreign clients sometimes come from a different legal and supervisory culture, so the lawyer’s task also extends to clarifying European law. In this context, the analysis of the equivalence of foreign regulations can also play a role and must be examined.
The numerous questions from the audience showed how much interest the topic had aroused. It also became clear that the topic of the lecture, for example through the now almost fully achieved tokenization at the stock exchange, i.e., the transformation of traditional assets such as shares into digital tokens stored on a blockchain, is “the future”.
About Specialization Areas 2 and 3
Specialization Area 2 (Work, Business, Social Affairs) deals with the legal order of central areas of our economic and working lives. The specialization is accordingly divided into three subjects: labor law, corporate law, and social law. You can find out more here.
Specialization Area 3 (Trade, Economics and Business) offers its students the opportunity to deal with issues of trade, economic, and business law and to specialize in one of the three legal fields. The compulsory courses teach the fundamentals of the three legal fields. You can find out more here.
About the Research Center for Banking and Capital Markets Law as well as Capital Market Criminal Law
The research center is dedicated to an area of law of high practical relevance, characterized by an interplay of the legal fields represented by its members. It is committed to the preparation and implementation of research projects, if necessary in connection with other institutions.
You can find out more here.
