Law and Practice of Crowdfunding and Peer-to-Peer Lending in Australia, China and Japan

The revolution in financial technology (FinTech) has created many advancements in the lending and investment space across the world. Law and Practice of Crowdfunding and Peer-to-Peer Lending in Australia, China, and Japan is a timely publication as FinTech grows up and moved into the mainstream of finance in the last decade. Financial services is a highly regulated industry as it is the lifeblood of a modern economy. Pelma Rajapakse, Hatsuru Morita, and Yinxu Huang have done very solid work blazing a new trail in what is a new industry and how to regulate it properly instead of stifling innovation. They have carried out a deep exploration and a thorough compilation of research that will bring everyone up to date on what Australia, China, and Japan are planning and doing in the field of crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending.

In addition to peer-to-peer lending, the book focuses on laws and practices related to Central Bank digital currencies, cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, and Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) which is very meaningful and forward-looking.   

The authors presented their thoughts in such clarity that, even those who lack familiarity with Asia-Pacific, will see how FinTech was growing in various ways driven by different factors. For example, peer-to-peer lending in Japan is mostly for small and medium enterprises. It was popular in China but cracked down by the authorities for a few years. It provides an alternative fundraising channel for the capital market in Australia. We also see a set of regulatory approaches among jurisdictions. Some countries draft new regulations, while others amend existing laws. The mechanism of the regulatory sandbox was introduced. As we know, one size does not fit all. What kind of best practices or lessons learned can we apply to our own jurisdiction? This book covers all available answers to date. This volume speaks highly of the quality and foresight of Pelma Rajapakse and her co-authors.

Pelma Rajapakse

Dr Pelma Rajapakse is an adjunct Senior Lecturer in Business and Corporations Law in the  Department of Accounting Finance and Economics, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland. She holds a PhD in Law from Griffith University, a Master of Laws from Monash University (Victoria), a Master of Economics from the University of Waterloo, Canada, and a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from the University of Sri Jayawardenapura, Sri Lanka. She is an Attorney-at- law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka.

 Pelma is a co-author of the book entitled ‘Commercial Law Aspects of Mortgage Securtisation’ published by Palgrave Macmillan (London) in 2019.  Her research combines socio-legal, doctrinal analysis, and qualitative methods. Her research and writing have encompassed a range of topics such as fraud in fund management in Australia and overseas, legal aspects of residential mortgage securitisation, mortgage lending, crowd funding, pay-daylending, professional negligence of accountants and auditors, procedural fairness in immigration law, racial and gender discrimination in employment.  Her articles have  appeared in a number of prominent peer-reviewed law journals, including the Competition and Consumer Law Journal, Common Law World Review, Law and Financial Markets Review, Business Law Review, University of New South Wales Law Journal, Monash University Law Review, University of Queensland Law Journal, Journal of Law and Financial Management, University of Tasmania Law Review, and Global Jurist among others.

She has received several research grants, including a grant from the Australian Centre for Financial Studies, Melbourne, Victoria, Mortgage Housing Corporation, Ontario, Canada, Certified Practising Accountants (Singapore) and the Socio Legal Research Centre at Griffith Law School. She currently focuses on a research project on recently enacted new disclosure regime for Superannuation fund management in Australia. 

Hatsuru Morita 

Hatsuru Morita is a Professor at the School of Law, Tohoku University, Japan. He has also served as a research fellow at Financial Services Agency, Japan, and a visiting associate professor at the University of Chicago Law School. He holds an LL.B from the University of Tokyo, Japan.

His main research area is economic analysis of law and empirical legal studies. He has published several books in Japan, including the law of financial transactions, the law of payment systems, and empirical legal studies. He has also contributed to a book ‘Selection and Decision in Judicial Process around the World: Empirical Inquires’ published by Cambridge University Press (Cambridge) in 2019. He has also written many articles on corporate law, financial regulation, environmental law, tort law, criminal law, and Artificial Intelligence, among others. His articles have appeared in peer-reviewed international journals, such as International Review of Law and Economics, Asian Journal of Law and Society, and Zeitschrift für Japanisches Recht (Journal of Japanese Law).

He has received a number of research grants, including grants from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan and (MEXT), and the Japan Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS).

Yinxu Huang  

Yinxu Huang is a Ph.D. in Law candidate of Renmin University of China, and a Research Fellow in Renmin Law and Technology Institute. He had also served as the Editor-in-chief of Renmin University Law Review from 2019 to 2021.He holds a Master of Law and a Bachelor of Law from Renmin University of China.

His research and writing focus on China's digital economy regulation, such as e-commerce, FinTech and RegTech, and antitrust in emerging markets. He has published papers in prestigious Chinese journals, including Journal of Renmin University of China, Oriental Law, Securities Law Review, China Finance, Shandong Social Sciences, Journal of Soochow University (Philosophy & Social Science Edition).

He has received several research grants, including grants from the Research Funds of Renmin University of China, the Development Research Centre of Shanghai and Beijing Law Society.