Singapore’s central bank has issued new guidelines on ICOs, providing guidance on how tokens should be applied under its securities laws.
In its 13-page document titled ‘A Guide to Digital Token Offerings,’ the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Singapore’s central bank and financial regulator, has said it will regulate offers or issues of digital tokens if the digital tokens are capital markets products under the Securities and Futures Act (SFA), for example smart contracts or something that can build a “smarter” initial public offering.
“Capital markets products include any securities, futures contracts and contracts or arrangements for purposes of leveraged foreign exchange trading,” the document says.
“The coin offerings which we believe we should support, is when the ICO is doing something technologically different to make the existing capital markets efficient,” MAS Chief Fintech Officer Sopnendu Mohanty said in an interview with Bloomberg.
“There’s a bunch of ICOs which are selling the Taj Mahal, selling residences on Mars,” Mohanty said. “Be careful of these.”
The report provides a selection of case studies, illustrating how the securities laws administered by MAS may apply. It adds, though, that these are ‘not indicative or conclusive of how the securities laws will apply to a particular case involving an offer or issue of digital tokens.’