Maharashtra National Law University Mumbai (MNLU Mumbai) on May 9 hosted the first international and second national edition of the Symposium on “Fintech and the Future of Finance: Law, Innovation and Regulation” through its Centre for Information Communication Technology and Law (CICTL), in collaboration with The Dialogue, a public policy think tank.
The Symposium began with an inaugural session attended by eminent dignitaries. The keynote address was delivered by Prof. Dirk Andreas Zetzsche, Head of the Department of Law and Professor of Financial Law at the University of Luxembourg. Through his keynote address, Prof. Dirk emphasised on datafication and ability of regulators to adopt to new areas like technology and sustainability to build robust, just and resilient systems.
The inaugural session was also attended by Guests of Honour, Sunil Jayawant Kadam, Executive Director of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), and Suvendu Pati, Chief General Manager, Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Jayawant Kadam spoke about maintaining the velocity of innovation while ensuring the stability of our legal and financial systems. Suvendu Pati highlighted the growing digitalisation of data and the need to mould our legal systems in a manner that would adapt to the technological innovations in the financial systems.
Vice Chancellor of MNLU Mumbai, Prof. (Dr.) Dilip Ukey, in his Presidential Address, highlighted the evolution of technology in society through a historical overview of systems of financial transactions in different civilisations.
The Chief Guest, Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra, Judge, Punjab and Haryana High Court, delivered an insightful address on the jurisdictional challenges arising from financial violations before the Courts. He emphasised the importance of law evolving to understand and respond to the complexities emerging in the new technological era. He also highlighted the need for stronger collaboration between technology and law to effectively address contemporary challenges.
One of the highlights of the event was the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between MNLU Mumbai and The Dialogue and the release of the joint policy report titled “Towards Safer and Smarter Digital Payment Systems” authored by Raunaq Sharma, Senior Research Associate, The Dialogue and contributed by Aastha Tiwari, Assistant Professor of Law, MNLU Mumbai; Soham Jagtap, Senior Research Associate, The Dialogue; Kriti Singh, Associate Director, The Dialogue and Ranjeet Rane, Partner, The Dialogue.
The round table discussion brought together distinguished experts from the field of policy, litigation, academia and industry including Varun Pathak, Partner, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas; Utkarsh Bhatnagar, Partner, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas; Abhishek Lahiri, Vice President and Head of Government Affairs, Mastercard and Ranjeet Rane, Partner, The Dialogue to engage in a thought provoking and interdisciplinary dialogue on evolving challenges on digital payment frauds to examine fraud not merely as a compliance or enforcement issue, but as a design challenge embedded within digital financial ecosystems.
The Symposium carefully selected top 30 papers for presentations. The paper presentation session was evaluated by experts and professionals in areas of fintech, AI, corporate governance, including Dr. Ivneet Kaur Walia, Registrar (Officiating) and Associate Professor of Law, Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Patiala; Palak Kapoor, Associate Partner, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas; Vinay Juneja, Assistant Professor of Law, MNLU Mumbai; Ranjeet Rane, Partner, The Dialogue; Gururaj D. Devarhubli, Assistant Professor of Law, Nirma University; Akanksh Deekonda, Associate, CMS INDUSLAW; advocate Aniha Shroff, Co-Founder and Partner, Atriad IP; advocate Shatakshi Shekhar, Counsel, Product Policy, Fintech and Cybersecurity; Meghna Punjabi, Principal Associate, Dentons Link Legal; Meghna Ghosh, Assistant Professor of Economics, BITS Law School and Akriti Sharma, Manager (Europe TLC) at Capgemini. This session provided a platform for emerging scholars and practitioners to present their research and receive feedback from experts.
MNLU Mumbai also introduced an initiative developed in collaboration with the AI Community of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay and CICTL, MNLU Mumbai an AI-powered Negotiation Bot designed specifically for law students and negotiation enthusiasts. The platform allows users to upload a complete negotiation proposition, including confidential information specific to their side, and then negotiate directly with the bot in a realistic simulation that responds much like a human negotiator would in a commercial setting. The idea behind this initiative is not just to create an AI tool, but to help students practically understand negotiation strategy and legal prompt engineering.
The Valedictory Session was attended by Prof. Alessio Azzutti, who joined as the Chief Guest, and Dr. Ivneet Kaur Walia, who joined as the Guest of Honour. In his address, Prof. Azzutti spoke about how fintech was initially seen as a disruptive force but has now gradually become an integrated part of everyday financial systems. Dr. Ivneet Kaur Walia discussed the challenges arising from the integration of AI, particularly its environmental impact, and also highlighted the growing importance of financial literacy in the digital age.