
Dr. Ryan Clements, SJD
Positions
Chair - Business Law & Regulation
Faculty of Law
Assistant Professor
Faculty of Law
Contact information
Background
Educational Background
SJD Duke University, 2020
LLM (Magna Cum Laude) Duke University, 2018
LLB (Distinction) University of Alberta, 2007
BA Economics (Honors, First Class), University of Alberta, 2004
Biography
Dr. Ryan Clements is an Assistant Professor, Chair in Business Law and Regulation at the University of Calgary Faculty of Law. He currently serves on both the New Economy Advisory Committee at the Alberta Securities Commission (ASC), and Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) national Investor Advisory Panel.
His expertise is in the regulation of fintech (financial technology), blockchain and crypto-assets, financial product innovation, investment funds, securities law, banking and financial market regulation, financial crises, and systemic risk.
He has published, and spoken, extensively on diverse topics in crypto-asset, blockchain and fintech regulation, financial product innovation, securities and derivatives law in international anthologies, peer-reviewed journals, U.S. law reviews including the Banking and Finance Law Review, the Canadian Business Law Journal, the Virginia Law & Business Review, the Routledge Handbook of Fintech, the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Business Law, the Houston Business and Tax Law Journal, the University of Calgary School of Public Policy Research Paper Series, the Alberta Law Review, the Journal of Law & Education, the Michigan Business & Entrepreneurial Law Review, the William & Mary Business Law Review, the Wake Forest Law Review Online, the DePaul Business & Commercial Law Journal, the Wolters Kluwer Research Handbook on the Law of Fintech, and a forthcoming chapter in Fintech Competition (Hart-Bloomsbury). He has also blogged widely on diverse topics on fintech, crypto, financial regulation and securities law on the Duke FinReg Blog, the Columbia Law School Blue Sky blog and the University of Calgary Faculty of Law Blog (ABlawg). He was also commissioned to write an expert report on Canadian cryptocurrency governance for the Public Order Emergency Commission.
Dr. Clements received this Doctorate in Juridical Science (SJD) at Duke University Law School, where his dissertation focused on post-crisis financial product innovation and exchange traded funds. He obtained his Master of Laws (LLM), Magna Cum Laude, from Duke University Law School, his LLB (with Distinction), and his BA Economics (Honors, First Class) from the University of Alberta.
He advises various levels of government, both domestic and international, and diverse securities commissions, on crypto regulation and fintech matters, and has also served on the advisory boards of both public and private fintech ventures. Dr. Clements is a former Senior Policy Advisor at the ASC, and a member of the crypto-asset working group of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC). He has also practiced corporate, securities, and start-up company law at both large and boutique firms in Calgary and Toronto and is a member of both the Law Society of Alberta and Ontario.
He is also the Managing General Editor, and special fintech co-editor, of the Banking and Finance Law Review.
A complete list of his publications, presentations, experience and media appearances can be found on his personal website.
Research
Areas of Research
Courses
Course number | Course title | Semester |
---|---|---|
LAW 404 | Property | Fall 2022 / Winter 2023 |
LAW 648 | Securities Law | Fall 2022 |
LAW 693 | Fintech Law & Policy | Winter 2023 |
LAW 677 | Corporate Securities Moot | Winter 2023 |
Publications
- Emerging Canadian Crypto-Asset Jurisdictional Uncertainties and Regulatory Gaps. Ryan Clements. 37(1) Banking and Finance Law Review 25 (2021). (2021)
- Regulating Fintech in Canada and the United States: Comparison, Challenges and Opportunities. Ryan Clements. 12:23 University of Calgary, School of Public Policy, SPP Research Papers . (2019)
- Private Interests, Public Borders, and NAFTA’s Chapter 11: Lessons from the Mad Cow Saga. Ryan Clements and Moin Yahya. 45:2 Alberta Law Review . 381-399. (2007)
- Why Comparability is a Greater Problem Than Greenwashing in ESG ETFs . Ryan Clements. 13 William & Mary Business Law Review 441 (2022). (2022)
- Misaligned Incentives in Markets: Envisioning Finance That Benefits All of Society. Ryan Clements. 19 DePaul Business & Commercial Law Journal 1 (2021). 50. (2021)
- Exchange-Traded Confusion: How Industry Practices Undermine Product Comparisons in Exchange Traded Funds. Ryan Clements. 15(2) Virginia Law & Business Review 125 . (2021)
- Are ETFs Making Some Asset Managers Too Interconnected To Fail?. Ryan Clements. 22(4) University of Pennsylvania Journal of Business Law 772 . (2020)
- New Funds, Familiar Fears: Are Exchange Traded Funds Making Markets Less Stable? Part I Liquidity Illusions. Ryan Clements. 20 Houston Business & Tax Law Journal 15 . (2020)
- New Funds, Familiar Fears: Are Exchange Traded Funds Making Markets Less Stable? Part II Interaction Risks. Ryan Clements. 21(1) Houston Business & Tax Law Journal 1 . (2020)
- Evaluating The Costs and Benefits Of A Smart Contract Blockchain Framework For Credit Default Swaps. Ryan Clements. 10 William & Mary Business Law Review 369 . (2019)
- Rewarding Innovation or Facilitating Conflict? Exploring The Legal Implications of Teacherpreneurship. Ryan Clements. 48 Journal of Law & Education 51 . (2019)
- Assessing The Evolution of Cryptocurrency: Demand Factors, Latent Value and Regulatory Developments. Ryan Clements. 8 Michigan Business & Entrepreneurial Law Review 73 . (2018)
- Trump’s “Big-League” Tax Reform: Assessing the Impact and Constitutionality of the President’s Proposed Changes. Ryan Clements. 7 Michigan Business & Entrepreneurial Law Review 1 . (2017)
- Book Review, “The Code of Capital: How the Law Creates Wealth and Inequality”. Ryan Clements. 36(2) Banking and Finance Law Review 323. (2021)
- Built to Fail: The Inherent Fragility of Algorithmic Stablecoins. 11 Wake Forest Law Review Online 131 (October 2021).. (2021)
- Defining the Regulatory Perimeter for Stablecoins in Canada. (2022), 66 C.B.L.J. 201 (Canadian Business Law Journal). 49. (2022)
- Could Alberta Enact a Sub-National Open Banking Regime?. 15:30, University of Calgary, School of Public Policy Research Papers (October 2022). 35. (2022)
- Regulating Fintech in Canada and the United States: Comparison, Challenges and Opportunities. Ryan Clements. in K. Thomas Liaw ed. The Routledge Handbook of Fintech . (2021)
- Fintech Regulation in Canada. Ryan Clements. in Claudia Sandei, Marco Cian eds. Research Handbook on the Law of Fintech. 677-698. (2020)
- Entry Barriers in Fintech. Chapter in "Fintech Competition," Konstantinos Stylianou et al. eds. (forthcoming, 2023 London: Bloomsbury-Hart).. (2022)
- “Emerging Canadian Crypto-Asset Jurisdictional Uncertainties and Regulatory Gaps” . Ryan Clements. Presentation to Alberta Securities Commission Staff and Executive . (2021)
- “Emerging Canadian Crypto-Asset Jurisdictional Uncertainties and Regulatory Gaps". Ryan Clements. Alberta Early Career Legal Scholars Workshop. (2021)
- “ETFs & Passive Investing: Regulatory Challenges and Financial Stability Implications”. Ryan Clements. Financial Issues Webinar Series presentation to Directorate General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets, DG-FISMA, European Commission's department responsible for #EU policy on banking and finance. (2021)
- "How do Cryptocurrencies Affect the Canadian and International System’s Financial Stability?” . Ryan Clements. McGill International Business and Trade Law Society, 2nd Annual Conference, Technologies Transforming International Business and Trade Dynamics Turning Opportunities into Threats . (2021)
- “The Game Stop Saga. What Happened and What Does It Mean?” . Ryan Clements. Business Law Students Association Special Event, University of Calgary Faculty of Law . (2021)
- “What Are the Objectives of Alberta Securities Laws?” . Ryan Clements. Saturday Morning at The Law School Presentation Series, University of Calgary Faculty of Law . (2020)
- “Emerging Issues in Fintech Regulation". Ryan Clements. Purdy Crawford Business Law Workshop: Business Regulation and the Digital Economy (virtual), Dalhousie University Law School. (2020)
- “What Have We Learned so Far about ETFs in the COVID-19 Crisis?” . Ryan Clements. University of Calgary School of Public Policy Webinar Series . (2020)
- Financial Inclusion in British Columbia: Evaluating The Role of Fintech. Presentation to Universal Basic Income panel, Vancouver School of Economics, University of British Columbia. (2019)
- Emerging Systemic Risks in Exchange Traded Funds. Paper presentation at Americans For Financial Report Conference on Registered Funds, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.. (2019)
- The Future of Financial Markets – How Financial Products and Processes are Impacted by Technology. Shoulder to Shoulder Conference, Goodenough College-University of Calgary, London,. (2019)
- Energizing Alberta’s Capital Market. Alberta Securities Commission Webinar (Panel Participant). (2019)
- Regulating Crypto. Presentation to Scientific Council, University of Calgary School of Public Policy . (2019)
- Regulating Crypto. Moderator and panel participant at University of Calgary School of Public Policy “Policy & a Pint” series. (2019)
- Regulating Fintech: Overview, Challenges and Opportunities. Presentation given at Fintech, Big Data and Canada’s Financial Markets Conference, University of Calgary School of Public Policy. (2019)
- Regulating Decentralized Finance. Financial Times Future Leaders Webinar. (2021)
- The Day The Loonie Died (Panel Participant). University of Calgary Alumni All Access Panel (September 28, 2021). (2021)
- Implications of Blockchain Technology, Moderator and Panel Participant. 50th Annual Conference, Canadian Council on International Law (October 21, 2021). (2021)
- Lawyer Superpowers: Emerging Legal Tech” Panel Participant . Goodlawyer Future of Law Conference (November 3, 2021).. (2021)
- Emerging Canadian Crypto-Asset Jurisdictional Uncertainties and Regulatory Gaps. Presentation to Cyberjustice Laboratory, University of Montreal (November 10, 2021). (2021)
- Cryptocurrency and the Stability of Financial Systems: Exploring the effects of decentralized finance. UBC Okanagan Faculty of Management Web Series. (2022)
- DeFi in depth: Regulatory hurdles ahead. 2022 Global Investment Conference, Benefits Canada. (2022)
- Institutional Investors and DeFi: Opportunities, Risks, Accessibility Frictions, and Regulatory Hurdles. Pension Investment Association of Canada, Fall 2022 Conference. (2022)
- Making Investor Protection Concerns in Emerging Technologies More Accessible. North American Securities Administrators Association Fall 2022 Annual General Meeting. (2022)
- Financial Inclusion in British Columbia: Evaluating the Role of Fintech. Ryan Clements. Expert Panel on Basic Income Report, Government of British Columbia. (2020)
- Bailing Out Wall Street, Sacrificing Main Street. Ryan Clements. It’s Our Money with Ellen Brown . (2020)
- ETFs and Financial Stability. Ryan Clements. The FinReg Pod, Duke Global Financial Markets Centre . (2020)
- What is The Future of Banking and Financial Inclusion?. Most Hated F Word Podcast. (2021)
- Finding Your Way - The path to authenticity in the legal profession. Future of Law Podcast. (2021)
- We’ve Got New Harmonized Crowdfunding Rules. But How Will Industry Respond?. ABlawg (University of Calgary Faculty of Law Blog). (2021)
- Exchange-Traded Confusion: How Industry Practices Undermine Product Comparisons in Exchange Traded Funds. CLS Blue Sky Blog (Columbia Law School’s Blog on Corporations and the Capital Markets). (2020)
- Are ETFs Making Some Asset Managers Too Interconnected To Fail? . CLS Blue Sky Blog (Columbia Law School’s Blog on Corporations and the Capital Markets). (2020)
- What Have We Learned So Far About ETFs In The COVID-19 Crisis?. Duke University School of Law, Global Financial Markets Center Financial Regulation Blog. (2020)
- Stability’s Important, but Canada needs to take more chances with fintech. Financial Post. (2019)
- Safe Until They Aren’t? Investigating Liquidity Illusions In The Exchange Traded Fund Market. Duke University School of Law, Global Financial Markets Center Financial Regulation Blog. (2018)
- Evaluating The Costs and Benefits of a Smart Contract Blockchain Framework For Credit Default Swaps. Machine Lawyering, Chinese University of Hong Kong. (2018)
- Can a Cryptocurrency Self-Regulatory Organization Work? Assessing Its Promise and Likely Challenges. Duke University School of Law, Global Financial Markets Center, Financial Regulation Blog. (2018)
- Blockchain is Overhyped. Lawrence Baxter and John Lightbourne. Duke University School of Law, Global Financial Markets Center, Financial Regulation Blog. (2018)
- If We Can, Does It Mean That We Should? Volatility Linked ETPs and The Recent Crash. Duke University School of Law, Global Financial Markets Center, Financial Regulation Blog. (2018)
- Why A Bitcoin Bubble Is A Good Thing. Lee Reiners & Sean Semmler. Duke University School of Law, Global Financial Markets Center, Financial Regulation Blog. (2017)
- The Case For A Cryptocurrency Market Bubble. Lee Reiners & Sean Semmler. Duke University School of Law, Global Financial Markets Center, Financial Regulation Blog. (2017)
- New CFTC Primer Casts Uncertainty on Unregulated Utility Token Market. Is This An Application of Goodhart’s Law?. Duke University School of Law, Global Financial Markets Center, Financial Regulation Blog. (2017)
- Decoding The Demand For Cryptocurrency: What Is Driving The Historic Price Surge?. Duke University School of Law, Global Financial Markets Center, Financial Regulation Blog. (2017)
- Is an ICO a Sale of Securities? An Analysis of The DAO Offering. Duke University School of Law, Global Financial Markets Center, Financial Regulation Blog. (2017)
- ESG ETFs and the Costs of Information Synthesis. Duke University School of Law, Global Financial Markets Center FinReg Blog. (2021)
- Non-Intermediate Clearing of Crypto Derivatives on Margin is a Bad Idea. Ryan Clements, Lee Reiners, Hilary Allen. Duke University School of Law, Global Financial Markets Center FinReg Blog. (2022)
- Why crypto went kaboom. Maclean's. (2022)
- Cryptocurrency: Challenges to Conventional Governance of Financial Transactions. Commissioned expert report submitted to Public Order Emergency Commission . 57. (2022)
- Introduction to the Third Annual Special Issue on Fintech. Virginia Torrie. 37(1) Banking and Finance Law Review. (2021)
- Introduction to the Fourth Annual Special Issue on Fintech. Aurelio Gurrea-Martínez and Virginia Torrie. 37(1) Banking and Finance Law Review. (2022)
In the News
- A “safe” crypto ETF?. Financial Pipeline. (2022)
- With so many cryptocurrencies, why do any of them have value?. CBC Business. (2022)
- Will Canada really be a “magnet” for cryptocurrency trading?. CPA Pivot Magazine. (2021)
- Senate Committee Hosts a Hearing on Stablecoins. CoinDesk TV, First Mover. (2021)
- What are the Biggest Risks of Stablecoins?. Yahoo News. (2021)
- Beyond Past Due. CBA National Magazine. (2021)
- Open banking report a good start but questions remained unanswered, legal experts say. The Lawyer's Daily. (2021)
- Community Integration in Action - Dr. Ryan Clements. UCalgary. (2021)
- University of Calgary launching Fintech Law and Policy course. Canadian Lawyer. (2020)
- Researcher works to help 'underbanked' Canadians who fall between the cracks. UToday. (2019)
- Winklevoss Effort to Self-Regulate Cryptocurrency Gets Members. The Wall Street Journal. (2018)
- The startup economy. Canadian Lawyer. (2017)
- Gary Gensler You Should Be Watching How Canada is Regulating Coinbase. Coindesk. (2021)
- Canadian law schools 2021/22: Resources if you're considering whether, and where, to become a lawyer. Canadian Lawyer Magazine. (2021)
- Report warns crypto assets could present significant risk to global financial stability. The Globe and Mail. (2022)
- Regulating cryptocurrency under Emergencies Act not as clear as Freeland suggests. National Post. (2022)
- BoC takes another step in digital currency research, partnering with MIT. Investment Executive. (2022)
- Proposed legislation focusing on innovation in Alberta’s finance sector. Lethbridge News Now. (2022)
- New legislation announced to spur innovation in finance sector. RD News Now. (2022)
- New legislation spurs innovation in finance sector. Government of Alberta, Press Release. (2022)
- Stablecoin arbitrage: Everything you need to know. Currency.com. (2022)
- Cutting-Edge Crypto Coins Tout Stability. Critics Call Them Dangerous. The Wall Street Journal. (2022)
- Algorithmic stablecoins are hot right now. But investors like Mark Cuban have lost money, and warn about their risks. Fortune. (2022)
- First Mover. CoinDesk TV.
- Bitcoin Faces a New Threat: Algorithmic Stablecoins. Barron's. (2022)
- ‘Built to Fail’? Why TerraUSD’s Growth Is Giving Finance Experts Nightmares. CoinDesk. (2022)
- Bailout Fund, Backstop or Bouncy Ball? Here's How LFG's Bitcoin 'Reserve' Might Work. CoinDesk. (2022)
- Is LUNA 'Doomed' to Fail?. Nasdaq. (2022)
- Long-Awaited Crypto Rules May Be Ignoring the Most Dangerous Stablecoins. Barron's . (2022)
- Ask the Experts: Crypto-Asset Regulation with Dr. Ryan Clements. Moot Times. (2022)
- Critics see risk in ‘algorithmic’ stablecoins. CQ Roll Call. (2022)
- Investors Flee Terra’s Anchor as UST Stablecoin Repeatedly Loses $1 Peg. CoinDesk. (2022)
- LUNA Supply Drops to All-Time Low – But Don’t Call It Deflationary. CoinDesk. (2022)
- TerraUSD, Algorithmic Stable Coins, and the Risks. Investors Observer. (2022)
- The Risks Behind LUNA-UST Stablecoin, According to a Bearish Academic. Yahoo Finance. (2022)
- A ‘stable’ coin lost its peg over the weekend and pledged $1.5 billion in Bitcoin trying to stabilize. Here’s how the algorithmic stablecoin was supposed to work—and didn’t. Fortune. (2022)
- What is an algorithmic stablecoin? Why is Terra in the news? Here’s what investors need to know. Dow Jones MarketWatch. (2022)
- $LUNA Down 96% From All-Time High, Terraform Labs CEO Says ‘Stay Strong, Lunatics’. Cryptoglobe. (2022)
- How a crypto bank run in Terra’s UST could rock cryptocurrencies. Yahoo Finance. (2022)
- The not-so-stable coins: How Terra’s collapse is dragging down crypto markets. Grid News. (2022)
- Terra’s Crypto Meltdown Was Inevitable. Wired. (2022)
- Crypto’s no good, very bad week just keeps getting worse. Fortune. (2022)
- Shouldn’t stablecoins be stable? What’s behind TerraUSD’s collapse. Global News. (2022)
- Crypto markets tumble and investors get their fingers burned. CBC News. (2022)
- This 24-year-old quit his job at hedge fund powerhouse Citadel to build anew on the Terra blockchain – which collapsed two months later. MarketWatch. (2022)
- Terra’s amended revival plan would decrease the allocation for post-attack UST holders. CoinTelegraph. (2022)
- UST aftermath: Is there any future for algorithmic stablecoins?. CoinTelegraph. (2022)
- The Math Prodigy Whose Hack Upended DeFi Won’t Give Back His Millions. Bloomberg Businessweek. (2022)
- Lehman Brothers 2.0: Crypto crash shows 'wild west' market has much to prove. ETF Stream. (2022)
- UST Won't Be the End of Algorithmic Stablecoins. CoinDesk. (2022)
- Terra’s stablecoin flop raises questions about regulatory role. CQ Roll Call. (2022)
- Bitcoin advocates remain bullish after crypto market melts down. Western Standard. (2022)
- When a cryptocurrency you never heard of drains your life savings. NPR Marketplace. (2022)
- Crypto market instability and what investors should be thinking about. UToday University of Calgary. (2022)
- How the crypto market came crashing down. CTV News. (2022)
- Alberta embraced the cryptocurrency sector. Months later, crypto crashed. CBC News. (2022)
- How is the crypto market crashing down?. CJAD 800AM Montreal Now. (2022)
- EU crypto rules would allow terra, just not as a stablecoin. Risk.net. (2022)
- Alberta's Crypto Strategy. Afternoons with Rob Breakenridge (Newstalk 770AM). (2022)
- Young investors are losing their enthusiasm for crypto as prices collapse. The Globe and Mail. (2022)
- CSA announces establishment of new Investor Advisory Panel. Canadian Securities Administrators. (2022)
- CSA names new investor panel. Investment Executive. (2022)
- Who will serve on the CSA's new Investor Advisory Panel?. Wealth Professional. (2022)
- Canadian Securities Administrators creates panel to enhance retail investor protection. Canadian Lawyer. (2022)
- Cleaning up crypto: How much enforcement is too much?. Cointelegraph Magazine. (2022)
- Canadian law schools 2022/23: Resources if you’re considering whether, and where, to become a lawyer. Canadian Lawyer Magazine. (2022)
- Calgary crypto expert recommends due diligence when entering the market. Global TV Calgary. (2022)
- Calgary-based Bitvo talks strength of regulations in wake of FTX collapse. Calgary Herald. (2022)
- Fallout from crypto exchange FTX's collapse shows importance of regulation: Experts. BNN Bloomberg. (2022)
- What happened to FTX? What Canadians should know about the latest crypto collapse. Global News. (2022)
- FTX fallout shows tension between need for regulation and push for decentralization. City News. (2022)
- Clarity, please. CBA National Magazine. (2022)
- How stable are stablecoins in the FTX crypto market contagion?. CoinTelegraph. (2022)
- The FTX Collapse and Canada's Approach to Crypto Regulation. The Law Bytes Podcast with Michael Geist. (2022)
- FTX Bankruptcy Fallout. CBC News Network. (2022)
- Crypto Crooks: Lunacy Episode 1 - Death Spiral. CoinDesk. (2023)
- Crypto Crooks: Lunacy Episode 2 - Confidence Game. CoinDesk. (2023)
- Crypto Crooks: Lunacy Episode 3 - Legends of the Fall. CoinDesk. (2023)
- Crypto hype is down, but crypto fraud is proliferating. The Globe and Mail. (2023)
- Rattled crypto industry could emerge stronger after USDC depeg. Cointelegraph. (2023)
- Crypto Crooks: Lunacy Episode 4 - Our Twisted Hero. CoinDesk. (2023)
- Ron DeSantis’ baseless theory that the government wants to control people’s purchases. Politifact. (2023)
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