Abbreviations
& Definitions
1) Anti-Money Laundering ("AML") - Refers to
activities that aim to fight money laundering by
establishing processes, policies, and
enforcement of AML checks, regulations, and
laws.1
2) Central Bank Digital Currency ("CBDC") -
Refers, generally, to a digital currency issued
by a central bank, rather than a commercial
bank, and is a liability of the central bank and
denominated in the sovereign currency, as is
the case with physical banknotes and coins.2
The exact definition and functions of a CBDC
will vary depending on jurisdiction.
3) Decentralized Autonomous Organization
("DAO") - Refers to a system developed to
distribute decision-making, management, and
entity ownership.a It is an emerging form of
legal structure that has no central governing
body and whose members share a common
goal to act in the best interests of the entity.
4) Distributed Ledger Technology ("DLT") -
Refers to digital and distributed transaction
ledgers that hold blocks of data that are
distributed over a network of computer nodes.4
Blockchain technology is an example of DLT.
5) European Banking Authority ("EBA") - Refers
to the regulatory agency of the European Union
whose role is to build a single regulatory and
supervisory framework for the entire EU
banking sector.s
6) European Central Bank ("ECB") - Refers to
the central bank of the European Union
countries that have adopted the Euro.6
7) European Economic Area ("EEA") - Refers to
an international agreement that enables the
extension of the European Union's single
market to member states of the European Free
Trade Association.1
8) European Securities Market Authority
("ESMA") - Refers to the independent European
Union authority whose purpose is to improve
investor protection and promote stable,
transparent, and orderly financial markets.a
9) European Union ("EU") - Refers to the
political and economic union of 27 countries
primarily located in Europe.9
10) Initial Coin Offering ("ICO") - Refers,
generally, to a type of funding using
cryptocurrencies, similar to an initial public
offering.10
1 What is Anti Money Laundering (AML)?, LexisNexis,
https://internationalsales.lexisnexis.com/glossary/compliance/a
nti-money-laundering-aml.
2) Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), Board of Governors of
the Federal Reserve System, (Apr. 20, 2023),
https://www. federalreserve. gov/centraI-bank-digital-currency.htm
.3) George Lawton, decentralized autonomous organization
(DAO), Tech Target, (Jan. 2023),
https://www.techtarget.com/searchcio/definition/decentralized-a
utonomous-organization-DAO.
4) Blockchain & Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), World Bank,
(Apr. 12, 2018),
https://www. worldbank. org/en/topic/financiaIsector/brief /blockc
hain-dlt
5) European Banking Authority (EBA), European Union,
https://european-union.europa.eu/institutions-law-budget/institut
ions-and-bodies/search-all-eu-institutions-and-bodies/eba_en.
6) European Central Bank (ECB), European Union,
https://european-union.europa.eu/institutions-law-budget/institut
ions•and•bodies/search-all-eu-institutions•and•bodies/ecb_en.
7) Glossary European Economic Area (EEA), eurostat, (Feb. 3,
2020),
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title
=GlossaryEuropean_Economic..Area_(EEA).
8) The European Securities and Market Authority (ESMA),
European Union,
https://european-union.europa.eu/institutions-law-budget/institut
ions-and-bodies/search·all-eu·institutions-and·bodies/esma_en.
9) Matthew J. Gabel, European Union, Britannica, (May 27, 2023),
https://www.britannica.com/topic/European-Union.
10) Definition of ICO - Initial Coin Offering, Fintech Weekly,
https://www.fintechweekly.com/ico·definit ion.