Personal Statement
Dr Andreas Karapatakis joined the School of Law and Social Justice in 2024 as a Lecturer in Law. Prior to this, he held teaching positions at Queen Mary University of London and SOAS University of London. Andreas sits on the editorial boards of the Journal of Money Laundering Control and the Journal of Financial Crime, and serves as an assistant editor of the New Journal of European Criminal Law.

Andreas’ research primarily explores the intersections of financial crime, the digital economy and banking regulation. His work examines key areas such as the integration of banking and technology, the emergence of central bank digital currencies, and the regulatory frameworks surrounding blockchain technology. He is particularly interested in the implications of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations and broader crime prevention strategies within these rapidly evolving sectors.

Dr Karapatakis holds a PhD (2024), an LLM in Criminal Justice (Distinction) (2017) from Queen Mary University of London and a Bachelor of Laws from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (2016). His thesis focused on the European AML regime to regulate virtual currencies and its impact on the end user. Following his postgraduate studies, he was selected for a traineeship at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, where he was awarded a Robert Schuman scholarship.

Before commencing his doctoral studies, Andreas returned to legal practice in Athens, Greece, where he specialised in financial crime as part of a criminal defence law firm. He became a member of the Athens Bar Association in 2019. Over the course of his career, Andreas has contributed to several projects funded by the European Parliament and the European Commission.

Research Overview
Andrea’s research lies at the intersection of banking and financial regulation, the digital economy, emerging technologies, and financial crime. His work examines legal and regulatory developments in these fields across the United Kingdom, the European Union and beyond.

He is particularly interested in the challenges that technological innovation poses to existing legal frameworks governing financial markets and institutions, notably the regulation of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets, anti-money laundering (AML) and financial crime legislation. A central strand of his work critically evaluates the extent to which law can address the risks posed by decentralised financial technologies, blockchain-based transactions, and increasingly digitised financial ecosystems.

Andreas also explores the implications of technological innovation for fundamental rights, with a special focus on privacy and data protection in the financial sector. His forthcoming 2026 monograph (EU Anti-Money Laundering, Digital Currencies and Privacy) examines how regulatory mechanisms designed to combat financial crime, including customer due diligence and transaction monitoring obligations, can be reconciled with the protection of individual rights under EU law.

PhD Supervision:
Andreas welcomes proposals from prospective doctoral researchers interested in banking and financial regulation, the digital economy, emerging technologies, and financial crime.