Corrado Fiscale is one of the leading expert voices in Italy on structured finance. His professional career has witnessed the advent of dematerialization and the growth of fintech. At Bird & Bird, he focuses on structured finance. Regarding the tokenization of financial instruments, he believes the market is mature and that investors and operators need a full understanding of the advantages this technique can offer.
Who is Corrado Fiscale and what were the milestones that brought you to where you are today?
I am a lawyer who has been dealing with structured finance for about thirty years. I started in 1996 at Clifford Chance, where I stayed for eight years, splitting my time between the Milan office and the London headquarters. In 2004, I moved with my team to Simmons & Simmons, where I worked for five years and became a partner. Then, from 2009 to 2024, I built the structured finance department at Hogan Lovells. Those were fifteen important years. In July 2024, I began another new stage of my career as a partner at Bird & Bird.
In such a long career, which project has given you the most satisfaction?
The next one! I’m serious. Structured finance is a constantly evolving world, and to keep up with it, you must always be up-to-date and willing to innovate. This is exactly what makes the job fun and stimulating, for me and for the people I work with. The greatest satisfaction is always the one that is yet to come.
Bird & Bird is a law firm with a strong focus on technology and innovation. Was joining it a choice dictated by your nature, or did something else happen?
Let’s just say we found each other. On one hand, I was no longer comfortable in the firm where I had worked for fifteen years; on the other, Bird & Bird wanted to develop and strengthen its structured finance practice. The conditions were there to build something together. Then, of course, the innovative approach, the leadership in new technologies, and the focus on people were factors that weighed heavily. Without that common ground, it wouldn’t have made sense to embark on this path.
After dematerialization, now comes the tokenization of traditional finance. Do you see trends you already saw back then? And what is still missing for this technology to become the standard?
There is a fundamental difference. Dematerialization was introduced by law; it came from top-down, and adapting to it was mandatory. Blockchain, on the other hand, stems from a need of the market and its operators, which is to make financial transactions faster and more secure. It is a bottom-up push. What is still missing is, above all, a cultural shift. All operators, first and foremost the investors, need to fully understand its advantages, including the economic ones. That being said, I have the impression that the market is finally mature and is moving toward this opportunity very quickly.
What are your expectations for the future then, and on what timeframe?
Already this year, we have seen the first major tokenization operations on a blockchain structure. I expect rapid widespread adoption to arrive next year and that, within three or four years, blockchain will become commonly used in the financial world. It is no longer a question of “if,” but of “when,” and the timeframes are getting shorter.