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Dr Daniele D'Alvia, PhD (London), LLM (London), MSc (Milan), GDL (London), MA (Rome)

Daniele

Lecturer in Banking and Finance Law

Email: d.dalvia@qmul.ac.uk
Website: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-avv-daniele-d-alvia-182b1324/

Profile

Dr Daniele D’Alvia is a Lecturer in Banking and Finance Law at Queen Mary University of London (Centre for Commercial Law Studies) and Deputy Director of its Institute of Banking and Finance Law. He is an Associate Researcher of the European Banking Institute in Frankfurt and prior joining Queen Mary University of London, he was the Ronnie Warrington Scholar in Comparative Law at Birkbeck College, University of London, and he was the Module Convener of Business Law at Bayes Business School, City University of London, former Cass.

He is intentionally recognised for his pioneering work on Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs), being the author of the world's first PhD thesis in law on the topic. He is also the author of the first book on SPACs ever published (Routledge, 2021) and the recipient of the prestigious Colin B. Picker Prize awarded by the American Society of Comparative Law for his groundbreaking work in comparative corporate and financial law. His thought leadership in this area has positioned him as a go-to expert for global media, and a thought leader in capital market innovation.

Dr D’Alvia’s research stands out for its distinctive comparative law methodology, which he uses as a tool to uncover cross-border patterns and divergences in financial regulation, corporate finance, and investment banking law. His work bridges legal systems to offer insight into the evolving global architecture of financial markets. This distinctive methodology allows Dr. D’Alvia to navigate and critically assess complex issues in cross-border financial regulation and law reform.

He has served as an external counsel to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), advising on insolvency law reforms across 38 jurisdictions, and collaborated with the Haut Comité Juridique de la Place Financière de Paris (The Legal High Committee for Financial Markets of Paris) to provide comparative legal expertise to the French Supreme Court in a precedent-setting financial case on equity financing practices.

He also works extensively in the field of digital finance, with a particular focus on payment systems and mobile payments regulation. His current research investigates the legal and institutional design of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), particularly the Digital Pound and Digital Euro, analysing their implications for monetary sovereignty, financial stability, and the transformation of legal tender in the digital age. Dr D’Alvia is also an Italian-qualified lawyer with extensive experience in leading international law firms, including BonelliErede, Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP, and Deloitte LLP, where he advised clients on complex M&A transactions, bond issuances, and initial public offerings (IPOs) across multiple jurisdictions. He has also served in the Criminal Investigation Unit of the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), contributing to high-stakes regulatory investigations involving market abuse and financial misconduct.

Additionally, he has been a visiting researcher at globally renowned institutions, including the Commercial Law Centre at Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford, the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law (Hamburg), the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (IALS) in London, and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris.

Dr D’Alvia is regularly interviewed by leading global financial outlets, including Bloomberg and Fortune, and is a frequent contributor of op-eds and commentary to international financial news platforms on topics such as SPACs, private equity regulation, digital finance, and global economic dynamics. His public engagement and policy insight complement his academic work, placing him at the intersection of law, markets, and innovation.

Postgraduate Teaching

Research

Research interests

Corporate Finance Law, M&As, Investment Banking Law, and Digital Finance.

Funded research

Digital Euro Project (March 2025 – June 2025)

I have received research funds from the Policy Support Fund of Queen Mary University of London to lead a joint research project on Digital Euro between Queen Mary University of London and the European Central Bank in Frankfurt.

Banking to the Future (February 2025 – June 2025)

I have received research funds from the Society of Legal Scholars in the UK to investigate the future of banking law.

Challenges and Experiments in Monetary Sovereignty (June 2018 – June 2019)

I have been part of a study group of experts on monetary law at Harvard School of Law (Institute of Global Law and Policy)

Publications

Books

  • D’Alvia D., Nicolini M.. 2025. Global Legal Indicators and Comparative Law: the Factory of Indexes. Forthcoming Routledge.
  • D’Alvia D., 2023. The Speculator of Financial Markets: How Financial Innovation and Supervision Made the Modern World, Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9783031479007.
  • D’Alvia D., 2022. International Insolvency and Finance Law: Legal Constants in Times of Crisis. Routledge. ISBN 9781032107929.
  • D’Alvia D., 2021. Mergers, Acquisitions, and International Financial Regulation: Analysing Special Purpose Acquisition Companies. Routledge. ISBN 9780367609863.

Edited collection

  • D’Alvia D. 2025. Research Handbook on Corporate Finance Law. Forthcoming Edward Elgar.  
  • D’Alvia D., Lombardi E., Shachmurove Y, 2023. Alternative Acquisition Models and Financial Innovation: Special Purpose Acquisition Companies in Europe, and the Italian Legal Framework. Routledge. 

Selected reviewed journal articles

  • D’Alvia D., 2022. ‘From Darkness to Light: A Comparative Study of Special Purpose Acquisition Companies in Europe, the UK, and the US’ in The Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies, 201 – 238. ISSN 528-8870.
  • D’Alvia D., 2021. ‘Legal constants and the ‘constant’ outside of the law: mobile payments in comparative perspective under European Union Law’ in 28 (3) Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law, 332-355. ISSN 2399-5548.
  • D’Alvia D. 2020. ‘Risk, Uncertainty, and the Market: a Re-thinking of Islamic and Western Finance’ in 16 (4) The International Journal of Law in Context, 339-352. ISSN 1744-5523.
  • D’Alvia D. 2020 (first online 2019). ‘The international financial regulation of SPACs between legal standardized regulation and standardization of market practices’ in 21 (2) Journal of Banking Regulation, 107-124. ISSN  1745-6452.
  • D’Alvia D. 2018. ‘Law and the Market: private actors and self-regulation “towards a new role of public international law”’ in 29 (6) European Business Law Review, 929-948. ISSN 0959-6941.

Selected chapters in edited collections

  • D’Alvia D., Morbee K, Olivares Caminal R., 2021. ‘PSD2, Brexit, and the Financial Regulation of Payment Systems in the UK’ in The Payment Services Directive II: A Commentary (G. Gimigliano, M. Bozina Beros eds.), Edward Elgar Commentaries Series.  ISBN 978-1-83910-567-8
  • D’Alvia D., 2018. ‘From public law to private law: the remarkable story of bona fides’ in The Future of the Commercial Contract in Scholarship and Law Reform: European and Comparative Perspectives (M. Heidemann, and J. Lee, eds.), Springer, 343-368. ISBN 978-3-319-95969-6
  • D’Alvia D., 2016. ‘Mobile Payments and Merger Regulation: a case law analysis’, in Bitcoin and Mobile Payments: Constructing a European Union Framework (G. Gimigliano eds.), Palgrave Macmillan, 251-267. ISBN 978-1-137-57511-1

Book review

  • D’Alvia D., 2022. ‘Founders without Limits: Dual-Class Stock and the Premium Tier of the London Stock Exchange’ in 33 (5) Business Law Review, 783-786.
  • D’Alvia D., 2020. ‘Carve-out M&A Transactions: A Practical Guide’ in 41 (1) Business Law Review, 36-36.
  • D’Alvia D., 2019. ‘Regulation and Supervision of the OTC Derivatives Market’ in 34 (3) Banking and Finance Law Review, 603-607.

Supervision

Regulation of Financial Markets including FinTech Law, Corporate Finance Law and Mergers, Acquisition and Takeovers Law.

Public Engagement

Public Mentions

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