We were delighted to contribute to new guidance published yesterday by the TLA Blockchain Legal and Regulatory Group and the Law Society of England and Wales which sets out key issues for legal practitioners to be aware of when advising on distributed ledger technologies.
We tackle the practical topic of what you need to consider when building a blockchain consortium (or joining an existing alliance). Setting up an effective governance framework for multi-party models is not easy and, as we have seen with some high profile blockchain projects, if not handled well can lead to a consortium failing to take off. Legal advisers (internal and external) can perform a valuable role in helping set these arrangements up for success.
Over recent years, a large number of blockchain consortia have been formed globally across a range of industry sectors, including financial services, healthcare, energy and retail. But these multi-party models bring their own complexities. Given the range of consortia members with their own interests, setting up an effective governance framework is not easy and if not handled well can derail the entire project. Therefore, setting up good governance is one of the most important considerations for organisations to focus on when forming a blockchain consortium and an area where legal advisers can provide a critical role.
