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Prof. Tālis Putniņš
Co-Chief Executive Officer & Chief Scientist
DFCRC
Tālis Putniņš is the Co-CEO and Chief Scientist at the at the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC), leading the research and education strategy for the Centre. Talis is an internationally recognised authority on digital finance, with over 15 years’ international research experience. He is a Professor of Finance at the University of Technology Sydney and has published widely in distinguished journals, including on market design, financial market microstructure and market integrity/misconduct.
His work focuses on leveraging technology to enhance financial market functionality and integrity. Tālis has served as an advisor to government agencies, stock exchanges, fintech startups, and financial institutions globally. Talis’ recent research focuses on digital finance tools, such as decentralised markets and the tokenisation of assets. He has also served as an expert witness in legal cases.
Tālis holds a Bachelor of Finance and a Bachelor of Engineering (Information Technology and Telecommunication) with First Class Honours and the University Medal from the University of Adelaide. In 2010, Tālis was awarded a PhD in Finance from the University of Sydney and was promoted to a professorship in 2015.
He has held visiting and honorary positions at Columbia University, New York university, the University of Edinburgh and Stockholm School of Economics in Riga.
Speaking at SFF 2026
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3:30–4:00pmWed 18 NovPolicy StageHall 3, Singapore EXPOOpenModerator
Policy Rewiring
RWA & Tokenization: When the Asset Becomes a Token, What Happens to the Rules?
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Dr. Nopnuanparn PavasantAssistant Secretary-GeneralSEC Thailand
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Prof. Tālis PutniņšCo-Chief Executive Officer & Chief ScientistDFCRCModerator
About this session
Tokenization is moving real-world assets such as treasuries, funds and credit onto new digital rails. The technology is advancing quickly. The harder question is whether the legal and regulatory framework can keep pace. When an asset becomes a token, does it retain the same rights and protections? Who owns the underlying asset? Which jurisdiction's rules apply when the token crosses a border? And what happens when different markets take different approaches? This conversation brings regulators and market participants together to examine where the rules are clear, where they diverge, and what still needs to be resolved for tokenized assets to scale.
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