ADA Chair in Financial Law (Inclusive Finance)

Mission Appui au Développement Autonome (ADA) and the University of Luxembourg’s Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance founded the ADA Chair in Financial Law (Inclusive Finance) in 2014. The activities of the Chair in terms of research, teaching and networking/knowledge exchange were launched in March 2016 under Prof. Dirk Andreas Zetzsche.

The Chair will allow both ADA and the University to be at the forefront of this emerging field and make substantial contributions to their study and practical application.

The ADA Chair will:

• focus on European and international financial law, with a special emphasis on all aspects of inclusive and alternative finance/FinTech;
• establish a Certificate of Advanced Studies in “Law and Regulation of Inclusive Finance” (more information);
• organise conferences on relevant topics related to financial law and inclusive finance, giving international visibility to Luxembourg and the ADA Chair in this domain;
• publish high-quality research in the field of financial law and inclusive finance;
• participate in national, European and international conferences, lectures, debates and political discussions;
• help make Luxembourg a European hub for the law and regulation of alternative finance and FinTech.

Prof. Zetzsche will also bring his expertise to the already existing study programmes offered at the University of Luxembourg’s Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance.

About the Chairholder Chairholder Prof. Zetzsche, LL.M. (Toronto), is professor of law as well as study director of the Certificate of Advanced Studies in Law and Regulation of Inclusive Finance since March 2016. Since July 2012, Professor Zetzsche is also one of the (non-executive) directors of the Center for Business and Corporate Law at Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf, Germany. Prof. Zetzsche completed his law studies at Heinrich Heine University, where he obtained a Doctor of law in 2004 on a securities and corporate law topic, after having completed his LL.M. at the University of Toronto in Canada. Also at Heinrich Heine University he completed his award-winning habilitation thesis on collective investment schemes in 2012 and was granted the venia legendi for private law, business law, comparative law, law and economics as well as law and ethics, before being called upon to take over the Propter Homines Chair of Banking and Securities Law at the University of Liechtenstein in 2012.

Research

Prof. Zetzsche has published more than 100 academic books, book chapters and peer-reviewed journal articles, in particular on the law of alternative finance, collective investment schemes, asset management, family offices, shareholder rights, corporate and banking governance, secured transactions, FinTech and international financial regulation.

Some of his latest publications include The Alternative Investment Funds Manager Directive, WoltersKluwer Law, 2nd ed., 2015; Prinzipien der kollektiven Vermögensanlage (PDF) (transl. Principles of Collective Investments), Mohr Siebeck Publ., 2015; and forthcoming, with Prof. Matthias Lehmann as co-editor, Grenzüberschreitende Finanzdienstleistungen (transl. Cross-border financial services), Mohr Siebeck Publ.

Expertise and Networking

Prof. Zetzsche has functioned as adviser to and participated in expert working groups initiated by public institutions, such as the European Commission, the European Parliament, the European Securities & Markets Authority (ESMA), the German Ministry of Justice, the German Ministry of Finance as well as the Liechtenstein government. He has worked in the private sector, as a lawyer licensed under German law and board member of regulated entities.

Prof. Zetzsche is one of the founding directors and chairman of the nomination committee of the Society of Investment Law and contributes to the academic board of the European Banking Institute (EBI) as well as the University of Luxembourg’s FinTech working group.

About ADA

ADA is dedicated to building and catalysing the financial inclusion of populations excluded from conventional banking channels in developing countries. ADA focuses on the development of innovative inclusive financial services, on capacity building and on action research, putting its expertise to use in areas including youth financial inclusion, access to green energy through microfinance, microinsurance, and reinvested savings through remittances for migrants. Additionally, ADA collaborates with individual states to support their inclusive finance expansion strategies.

ADA is a non-governmental organisation approved and cofinanced by the Luxembourg Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs and is placed under the High Patronage of Her Royal Highness the Grand Duchess Maria Teresa.