#REALESTATEWORLD

 –  4  U?  
Real  Estate  &  Blockchain  
FinTech Week Vienna 20.11.2019
Dr. Chistoph Urbanek
About  DLA  Piper  

www.dlapiper.com 2
DLA  Piper    
Facts  and  ?igures   8   10  
GLOBAL GLOBAL
PRACTICE AREAS SECTORS

Corporate Consumer Goods, Food and Retail

Energy & Natural Resources

Employment

 40+   90+   Financial Services

Finance and Projects
Industrials

Intellectual Property and Infrastructure, Construction

COUNTRIES OFFICES Technology & Transport

Insurance
Litigation and Regulatory
Life Sciences
Real Estate
Media, Sport & Entertainment

$2.8   214K  
Restructuring Real Estate

Tax Technology

Global revenue in Pro bono and community

$USD billions for 2018 engagement hours donated in 2018

www.dlapiper.com 3
DLA  Piper  in  Austria   Sector  focus  
•  Founded in 1878 – longest established
business law firm in Austria
•  Fully integrated part of DLA Piper since 2003
TECHNOLOGY CONSUMER GOODS,
FOOD AND RETAIL
•  About 65 lawyers (16 partners)
REAL ESTATE ENERGY & RESOURCES

•  Full service business law firm

Broad range of services

•  Banking, finance and projects •  IT & telecoms MEDIA, SPORT &

FINANCIAL SERVICES
ENTERTAINMENT
•  Capital markets •  Litigation and arbitration
LIFE SCIENCES INDUSTRIALS
•  Commercial law •  Mergers and acquisitions
INSURANCE INFRASTRUCTURE,
•  Competition law •  Privacy and data protection CONSTRUCTION &
TRANSPORT
•  Corporate law •  Public law
•  Distribution law •  Real estate
•  Employment law •  Regulatory and compliance
•  Energy law •  Restructuring
•  Intellectual property •  Tax

www.dlapiper.com 4
Global  Presence  

AMERICAS EUROPE AFRICA

Argentina Austria Algeria
Brazil* Belgium Angola
Canada Czech Republic Botswana
Colombia Denmark Burundi
Chile Finland Ethiopia
Mexico France Ghana
Peru Germany Kenya
United States Hungary Mauritius
Ireland Morocco
MIDDLE EAST Italy Mozambique
Bahrain Luxembourg Namibia
Kuwait Netherlands Nigeria
Oman Norway Rwanda
Qatar Poland Senegal
Saudi Arabia Portugal South Africa
United Arab Emirates Romania Tanzania
Russia Tunisia
ASIA PACIFIC Slovak Republic Uganda
Australia Spain Zambia
China Sweden Zimbabwe
Japan Ukraine DLA Piper presence
New Zealand United Kingdom
Singapore Cooperation firm
South Korea
Thailand

*Cooperation Firm

www.dlapiper.com 5
Christoph  Urbanek  
Partner

Christoph Urbanek is a partner in the Finance & Projects group in the Vienna office of DLA
Piper. He specializes in all key legal areas of projects and financing. His fields of expertise
include in particular restructuring, real estate financing and transactions as well as in Christoph  Urbanek  
investment law in which he regularly advises national and international investors, banks, Partner
project developers and other businesses, especially from the real estate and renewable T: +43 1 531 78 1048
F: +43 1 533 52 52
energy sectors. christoph.urbanek@dlapiper.com

In his advisory work, he focuses on international transactions, both in German-speaking

countries as well as across Central and Eastern Europe. In addition to his expertise in Education
University of Vienna, Dr.iur. in EU law, 2005
banking and finance law he regularly supports clients on M&A transactions, corporate law,
University of Vienna, Mag.iur., 2001
corporate restructuring, private equity and regulatory aspects of banking and investment law.
Admissions
Prior to his work as an attorney, Christoph Urbanek was an in-house counsel at Rechtsanwalt registered with
Kommunalkredit Austria AG in the areas of treasury and portfolio investment. He is the author Rechtsanwaltskammer Wien

of numerous publications in banking and finance law and regularly holds lectures and Languages
seminars in his fields of expertise. For several years he has been a lecturer at the University German
English
of Vienna, the FH Joanneum Graz, bfi Vienna and the FH Donau Uni Krems, where he
teaches regulatory banking law, finance and debt security law as well as insolvency law.
Christoph is ranked amongst the leading Austrian banking and finance lawyers by
international legal publications such as Legal 500.

www.dlapiper.com 6
Token  

www.dlapiper.com 7
 Token  –  civil  law  classi?ication  
No legal definition Transfer of ownership
- a token is a unit of value by title and modus

FMA:  
Tokens ≠ money "Coins/Token  are  a  
Immaterial, movable, (Section 1046 Austrian Civil type  of  digital  
consumable, estimable Code) – token has more “container”,  which  may  
and fungible object parallels to swap or
(Sections 285 et seq
embody  a  right  or  a  
exchange contracts
Austrian Civil Code) claim.  They  may  be  
equipped  with  
Not a financial different  function  as  
instrument within the
Subject of contracts, well  as  be  technically  
meaning of the Austrian
such as purchase, Entrepreneurs Act differently  designed."  
exchange, donation, Token = Stock ("Vorrat") (annual accounts)  
loan and pledge or intangible asset
("immaterieller Asset on the one side
Vermögensgegenstand") and financial liability
within the meaning of on the other side?
the UGB

www.dlapiper.com 8
Security  Token  

The  Implications  of  the  Austrian  Capital  Market  Act  

Investments

•  "Embodiment" of the right •  Prospectus obligation

•  Tradability on the capital •  No issue of securities •  Concession obligation for the

market operator of the trading venue
•  Direct or indirect investment
•  Comparability with shares, of capital •  Obligation to hold a
bonds or similar securities concession for the provision
•  Joint account and risk of related services
•  Missing of an exception
•  Invested capital is not
managed by the investors
Consequences of
Securities
Application

www.dlapiper.com 9
Real  Estate  

www.dlapiper.com 10
 Blockchain  &  Real  Estate  (1/2)  
Liquidity Platforms and Marketplaces:
Crypto-currencies and tokens can
Ownership be traded for fiat currencies
through exchanges
Also lowers the barriers to real No Intermediaries Blockchain technology to
estate investing; however
registration in the land book is
Buyers and sellers getting more
out of their money as they save
facilitate real estate and rental
generally necessary (transfer of
land books into blockchain may
on commissions and fees charged property transactions; by
by intermediaries (i.e. brokers,
not be realistic in countries where
consultants, banks etc)
tokenizing real property, assets
register is already online, e.g.
Austria, however blockchain
can then be traded much like
based land books are currently stocks on an exchange and
developing in Sweden and
Slovenia) transactions can be done online
Costs
–  May also lower all associated costs with
real estate transactions; especially in
cutting out intermediaries’ professional
fees and commissions (may be
Decentralization dangerous, lawyers/notary should stay
Information stored in the in their role as "controlling entities");
blockchain is accessible to all –  May also have an effect in registration
peers on the network making data Peer-to-Peer Trading fees, loan fees, and taxes associated
transparent and immutable; of Property with real estate, depending on
conclusion of purchase contracts jurisdiction and system; additional costs
More people will be able to access the
as smart contract solutions may arise from platform fees (finders
market, transactions can be made more
through platform marketplaces fee, admin costs etc)
transparent and secure; real estate
transactions may soon become truly peer-
to-peer activities with blockchain-powered
platforms (role of lawyers / notaries will
change in the future)

www.dlapiper.com 11
Blockchain  &  Real  Estate  (2/2)  
Possible  Applications  of  Blockchain  Technology  

•  Property Search

•  Valuation Method

•  Project Participation and Financing

•  Contract Execution

•  Cash-Flow Manager

•  Real-time Data Analysis

www.dlapiper.com 12
The  Use  of  Token  in  Real  Estate  Development  
The  Issues  in  the  Classic  Financing  of  a  Real  Estate  Project  

Complicated Financing Structures

High Initial Investment Limited Divisibility of Limited Access for Small

Costs Properties Investors

Bureaucratic Effort

Land Register

www.dlapiper.com 13
Land  Register  

The  Particularities  of  Real  Estate  Transactions  

•  Public register based on the principle of trust
•  Formalistic and time-consuming change process
•  Third-party dependence
•  Limited divisibility of properties

www.dlapiper.com 14
Financing  

The  next  step  in  Ainancing  real  estate  projects  

Existing types Newer types of New types of

of financing financing financing

•  Loan •  Crowd-Funding •  Tokenization

•  Bond •  Private Equity

•  Mezzanine
capital

"Tokenization" - The financing of projects through the interconnection of a token system

www.dlapiper.com 15
Tokenization  (1/2)  

The  use  of  blockchain  

Blockchain

•  Public register of transaction data

•  Continuous recording of every transaction

•  Immutability of the transaction history

•  Direct transaction without intermediaries

www.dlapiper.com 16
Tokenization  (2/2)  

The  use  of  blockchain  

Token

•  Data records based on a blockchain (e.g. ether)

•  Grant certain rights to the holder

ü  Splitting of real estate shares

ü  Fast and unbureaucratic transfer of shares
ü  Security and transparency

www.dlapiper.com 17
Sample  project  structure  
Real  estate  Ainancing  based  on  blockchain  technology  

Project operator Project operator

Managing director A GmbH Managing director B

SPV

EUR,
Token
USD, ….

Investors

www.dlapiper.com 18
Any  Questions?  

www.dlapiper.com 19