Hosted by Commercial and Regulatory Law & Secured Credit Committees

This panel discusses various issues arising from the development of a new class of collateral: that which is remotely controllable. The concept of a secured creditor controlling its collateral is of course not a new or novel concept. However, the ability of secured creditors to control their collateral remotely is growing rapidly as new technology and new types of assets are developed. Robots, vehicles and even farm equipment can be directed and controlled remotely to do any number of different tasks, including simply leaving the custody of the borrower and traveling to the custody of a secured creditor. Beyond well-established technology, with the onset of AI and machine learning, collateral (software, vehicles, satellites, etc.) could be programmed to automatically shut down — or phone home — upon the occurrence of particular conditions. This brave new world of valuable assets, which can serve as meaningful collateral for debt, raises new, challenging issues about how these assets are used, regulated and pledged. The panelists address an array of topics and unanswered questions about how the law is (or is not) suited to addresses the new issues, the risks for creditor and borrower, and the role of the government in finding efficient solutions to potentially unforeseen issues.