The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) warned eight crypto exchanges about the inadmissibility of trading digital tokens with the properties of securities and futures. The Securities and Futures Act (SFA) govern the trade in digital tokens and exchanges need to seek the prior authorization of the MAS, the office stated.
MAS also warned the local Initial Coin Offering (ICO) issuer to stop the offering of its digital tokens in Singapore. The office has assessed that the “tokens represented equity ownership in a company and therefore would be considered as securities under the SFA.” In addition, the issuer did not receive permission from the Monetary Authority of Singapore to conduct an ICO which is a violation of the law.
Mr Lee Boon Ngiap, Assistant Managing Director (Capital Markets), MAS, said:
“The number of digital token exchanges and digital token offerings in Singapore has been increasing. We do not see a need to restrict them if they are bona fide businesses. But if any digital token exchange, issuer or intermediary breaches our securities laws, MAS will take firm action. The public should be aware that there is no regulatory safeguard if they choose to trade on unregulated digital token exchanges or invest in digital tokens that fall outside the remit of MAS’ rules.”
MAS is de facto central bank of Singapore. Compared to other Asian countries, Singapore has relatively soft laws in the field of cryptocurrency. When China and South Korea introduced the ban on ICOs, Singapore began to attract more crypto-investors. In November of 2017, the state even released an ICO guide and in the first quarter of 2018, it came in second place globally in terms of the number of ICOs conducted.
Earlier, The Monetary Authority of Singapore proposed to amend the existing rules and simplify the procedure for exchanging cryptocurrency. According to the document published on the agency's website, the current RMO regulatory framework is not able to meet demand for new business models.
By Ekaterina Ulyanova