Hong Kong and South Korea on ICOs
By Rizwan Qayyum and Robert Crea
Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission released a statement discussing whether existing regulations could be applicable to ICOs. This is a move likely precipitated by China’s ban on ICOs announced earlier this week.
The Executive Director of Intermediaries at the SFC, Julia Leung, warned that purchasers and those involved in an ICO need to be “that some ICO structures may be subject to Hong Kong securities laws.”
South Korean regulators have also taken a step towards tightening ICO regulation. South Korea’s digital currency task force group, comprised of the country’s central bank, and the Financial Services Commission (amongst other bodies) held a meeting on 3 September 2017, in which they discussed ICOs. It was noted that authorities will punish ICO fundraising platforms for violating the Capital Market Act by raising funds through stock issuance using digital currencies.