Alexander LOKE
Deputy Director
July 2013 - December 2014
Academic Adviser, Researcher Programme
Adjunct Researcher
1 January 2015 - 31 December 2017

Alexander Loke JSD, LLM (Columbia), LLB (Hons)(NUS) is Professor at City University of Hong Kong School of Law. Loke researches and publishes on contract law, corporate and securities law, and international finance and capital markets. Loke was Deputy Director of the Centre for Banking & Finance Law at NUS Law, and was responsible for creating its researcher program. He was also the founding editor of the Asian Journal of Comparative Law, which was accorded "A" in Australian Research Council ranking of world journals. Representative publications include: "Tainting Illegality" (2014) 34 Legal Studies 560; "Rethinking the transplantation of TSC Industries v Northway in Singapore" (2013) 28 Australian Journal of Corporate Law 253; "Mounting Hurdles in Securities Litigation - Addressing the Funding and Collective Action Issues" (2010) 22 Singapore Academy of Law Journal 660; "The Protected Interests in the Private Right of Action for Insider Trading: A Comparative Perspective" (2007) 7 Journal of Corporate Law Studies 307 and "From the Fiduciary Theory to Information Abuse: The Changing Fabric of Insider Trading Law in the U.K., Australia and Singapore" 54 American Journal of Comparative Law 123 (2006).

Research Areas

The legal and regulatory challenges posed by virtual currencies

The emergence of virtual currencies generates challenges. For the regulators, the most immediate concerns are the appropriate measures for addressing the risks relating to money laundering and terrorist financing; importantly, for liberal economies like Singapore which desire that virtual currencies be harnessed to stimulate further economic activity, the measures should not chill its legitimate use. Moreover, it is necessary to inquire into the nature of virtual currencies and whether the law adequate protects the interests of users when they purchase such virtual currencies. This paper examines the challenges for regulatory design presented by virtual currencies and the further enhancements to the legal framework necessary to place the rights represented by virtual currencies on a more secure footing.