The Guide on Best Practices for Electronic Collateral Registries has now been published. Download the electronic version here.
Purchase the hard copy of the Guide for 50 Euros:
About the Project
The Project on Best Practices in the Field of Electronic Registry Design and Operation (BPER) seeks, through an interdisciplinary approach, to study and link elements of ‘best practices’ standards and to develop a framework for electronic registry design and operation from both legal and technical angles. The Project is run by the Cape Town Convention Academic Project in partnership with the UNIDROIT Foundation, Aviareto, and the Aviation Working Group. So far, eight workshops in which leading experts and academics in the field participated have been held at Oxford University, the UNIDROIT Headquarters, and the University of Cambridge.
Establishing best practices guides will ensure a greater level of stability and security in industries in which e-registries play an important role. The UNIDROIT Foundation is presently seeking contributions for this Project to enhance the research being done and involve a greater number of experts and professionals in the discussion.
For enquiries about the Project, including proposals for involvement, please contact [email protected].
Project Background
Electronic registries are an essential element of systems that collect, store, disseminate and establish rights in data or property represented by that data. The incorrect use and mismanagement of these registries can result in liability and legal uncertainty, translating to substantial economic and commercial damages.
The Cape Town Convention, which, through its various Protocols, establishes electronic registries for different types of high-value mobile assets, sets out a standard for the responsibility of registrars of modern electronic registries. The only defence is that of having followed ‘best practices’ in registry design, operation, and backup. However, ‘best practices’ in electronic registries are not defined by the Convention, nor have international parameters been developed more generally about electronic registries.
Project Workshops
The first of these workshops set out the issues that were further discussed within this Project:
a) Classification of Global Electronic Registry Systems;
b) Methods, Best Practices, and Technologies in Global Electronic Commerce;
c) Future Application of Blockchain and Related Technologies;
d) Ensuring Trust: Authentication, Data Integrity and Application Security;
e) Digital Evidence: Disclosure, Discovery & Admissibility.
The second workshop made progress towards establishing a definition of electronic registries, identification of critical performance factors, risk management of those factors; and the usefulness of technical standards.
The third workshop, building upon the first and second project workshops, focused on the application of the best practice standards developed by the Project to the design and operation of electronic collateral registries. The discussion was based on an extensive case study prepared by Dr Marek Dubovec, Executive Director of the Kozolchyk National Law Center. Participating experts discussed which Critical Performance Factors (CPFs) were particularly relevant for collateral registries and shared practical experiences in relation to the challenges that arise in the design and operation of such registries. The group identified additional CPFs which could be incorporated into the case study and suggested that the CPFs should be further tested against functioning collateral registries.
The working paper on best practices in the design and operation of electronic collateral registries was refined and discussed further at a hybrid fourth workshop held in Rome and on Zoom in September 2020. A report for this workshop can be found here.
This Working Paper was refined and published at a launch event alongside the 100th Session of the UNIDROIT Governing Council on 22-27 September 2021. The Guide on Best Practices for Electronic Collateral Registries is now available online for free online and can be purchased in hard copy here.
In September 2021, a fifth workshop for the Project was organised at the University of Cambridge. It was decided that the Project would shift its focus onto Electronic Business Registries and would work towards developing a best practices guide for the same. A report for this workshop can be found here.
The sixth workshop for this Project featured a review of a preliminary structure for the Guide on Electronic Business Registries, as well as discussions on questions of scope, differences between business registries and collateral registries, and the structure of the Guide on Business Registries. A report for this workshop can be found here.
At the seventh workshop for this Project, the experts reviewed a detailed outline of the prospective guide and analysed the existing Critical Performance Factors. They identified the adaptations needed in the context of business registries and discussed the proposed additional Critical Performance Factors. A report for this workshop can be found here.
At the eighth workshop, participants reviewed in detail the definitions and core content of some key Critical Performance Factors, particularly relevant to business registries. A full report for the Workshop is available here.