The unique and complex considerations of digital asset custody

Author's Biography

Richard Walker is a consulting principal at Deloitte. He has been a financial services consulting principal for over 20 years and brings deep industry experience and a background in technology strategy and business transformation. He has served in practice and strategic leadership roles, has international experience leading the financial services technology consulting practice for EMEA based in London, and is currently head of blockchain solutions for financial services. During his career, he has worked with financial services executive teams across the globe for some of the largest and most innovative financial services companies. He has been delivering solutions in the blockchain space since 2015, starting with an Ethereumbased bank rewards solutions and is leading the expansion of emerging technologies and blockchain solutions to simultaneously transform processes, adopt digital assets and create new growth models.

Rob Massey is a Partner and Deloitte’s Global Tax leader of Blockchain and Digital Assets. He has over 20 years of professional experience in tax consulting for technology companies. Since 2013, he has focused on blockchain, digital assets, cryptocurrency and tokenisation. He serves companies throughout the blockchain ecosystem inclusive of miners, staking providers, payment processing, wallet hosting, exchanges, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), hedge funds, tokenisation and protocol development. Rob leads Deloitte’s blockchain efforts in tax for the global firm. His blockchain expertise includes analysis of the tax considerations of blockchain-enabled transactions; assisting internal and external development teams in the evaluation of blockchain applications across various industries and the analysis of the tax impacts of tokenisation and token launches as developed across various business models and industries. Rob’s expertise in digital assets includes tax analysis of revenue recognition across various models, design and implementation of international structures, analysis and implementation of accounting methods associated with basis tracking and capitalisation policies, application of indirect tax to digital assets, reporting requirements related to use of cryptocurrency and tokens as compensation and analysis of financial instruments based on digital assets. Rob also interfaces with the Internal Revenue Service in seeking guidance through private letter rulings on the earlier topics.

Amy Steele is a partner in the National Office of Deloitte & Touche LLP and serves as the Global and US Audit and Assurance methodology leader for blockchain and digital assets. She leads Deloitte’s audit initiatives related to emerging technology and expanded assurance services. Amy plays a key role in developing and implementing strategies to enhance quality across the global Deloitte network. In addition, she leads audits in the technology industry, including the software and blockchain sectors. Amy co-chairs the AICPA’s Digital Assets Working Group and serves on the Center for Audit Quality’s Emerging Technologies and Cybersecurity task forces. She also is a member of the AICPA’s Assurance Services Executive Committee (ASEC) and the ASEC’s Strategic Direction Working Group. Previously, Amy served as associate chief accountant in the SEC’s Office of the Chief Accountant where she supported the office in its role as the principal adviser to the commissioners on profession-wide auditing matters and oversight of the Public Company Account Oversight Board.

Tyler Welmans is the UK Blockchain Practice lead for Deloitte. Tyler set up Deloitte’s UK blockchain and digital asset practice in 2015 and continues to lead a specialist team of analysts and engineers applying distributed ledger technology to bring new, innovative and disruptive technology solutions to market across all industries.

Michelle Robinson is a director in Deloitte UK’s Tax Policy Group, leads Deloitte’s private client tax policy team and is the tax policy subject matter adviser on digital assets. A chartered tax adviser with over 15 years’ experience, Michelle specialises in both domestic and international private client taxation, including the income tax, capital gains tax and inheritance tax position of individuals and trusts. She has a keen interest in digital assets and her work has included analysing how the UK’s taxation system should be applied across different types of digital assets and how individuals and businesses are taxable on ‘exchange tokens’ such as cryptocurrency. Michelle has been an active contributor throughout the series of roundtable meetings on digital assets hosted by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), which have focused on the application of the UK’s taxation system to digital assets. Michelle is a member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation’s (CIOT’s) UK and International Private Client Committees and is also a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales’ (ICAEW) Tax Faculty (private client sub-committee).

Elana Mourtil is a managing director in the Northeast Financial Tax Practice of Deloitte Tax LLP and a member of Deloitte’s Banking and Capital Markets and Blockchain/Crypto industry groups. Elana has 33 years of experience providing tax consulting and compliances services to some of the largest international financial institutions operating within the United States. Her tax experience encompasses assistance and advice with respect to tax planning strategies, tax return compliance and tax examinations with a focus on taxation of financial products and more recently on digital assets.

Michael Marzelli is an Audit and Assurance partner focusing on financial services and a leader of Deloitte’s Blockchain and Digital Asset audit practice. He has over 16 years’ experience serving a wide range of clients from emerging growth companies to large multinational organisations in New York, Hong Kong and San Francisco in both an audit and advisory capacity. Michael has experience serving clients in the securities, banking, FinTech and digital asset space, focusing on audit and assurance methodologies, tools and technology. He helps clients manage the complexities faced by companies engaging in the blockchain and digital asset space, from start-ups to mature enterprises, and focuses on bringing the right advice and counsel to clients when building and scaling blockchain and digital asset-based businesses.

Linards Strauss is a managing director in Deloitte’s audit practice with 14 years of experience serving the investment management industry. He has served leading investment management firms in the public and private fund space and trading firms with allocations across the spectrum of asset classes, including dedicated digital assets strategies. In addition to client service, Linards serves as the leader for the investment management industry in Deloitte’s National Office Audit & Assurance Services group where he is the subject matter expert for the industry and provides consultations on matters such as identifying and addressing audit risks related to safeguarding, transferring and trading of digital assets.

Pamela Calaquian is an advisory senior manager at Deloitte. She specialises in antimoney laundering (AML) and has 21 years of experience in the financial services industry within the retail, wholesale and investment banking lines of business. Her expertise is integrating various financial data; building data warehouses, data marts and other central repositories to help the lines of business assess risk, identifying issues and making informed decisions. Her area of specialisation is assisting institutions in enhancing their AML and Office of Foreign Assets and Control (OFAC) programmes, conducting AML and OFAC risk assessments, performing AML independent testing and developing customer risk rating models. Pamela, with her analytics background, focuses on understanding current processes and integrating various customer, account and transaction data to assess risk and identify opportunities for improvement in the AML/OFAC programme. Pamela has worked with several cryptocurrency exchanges and performed Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)/AML and OFAC programme assessments, model validation and independent testing engagements. She advises clients in developing their Know Your Customer (KYC) on-boarding process and tailor to support her client’s acceptance of virtual asset service providers (VASPs). She is currently assisting the internal audit group of a FinTech company in assessing the risk and controls as it develops and implements a new digital wallet. Pamela is a blockchain fellow and is the digital asset subject matter specialist for the AML practice. Pamela is a certified AML specialist.

Ken Schulhof is a partner in the financial services group at Deloitte Tax LLP. Ken has 20 years of experience providing tax compliance and consulting services to some of the largest international financial institutions operating within the United States. His tax experience encompasses assistance and advice with respect to tax planning strategies, tax return compliance, tax examinations, income tax provisions and tax technology solutions. Ken serves as the Deloitte Tax FinTech leader and assists many blockchain/digital asset clients with their unique tax issues including tax structuring, credits and incentives, international tax, state and local tax and information reporting. Ken also serves as the US–Israel member firm combination leader for tax. In this role, Ken assists clients operating in both the Unites States and Israel with the cross-border tax implications and tax strategies.