We welcome recent announcements by the governments of Gibraltar and Malta on the development of regulatory frameworks for ICOs in their jurisdictions. We are working closely with local service providers to analyse the impact and likely outcomes of developments in these jurisdictions, which are popular locations amongst ICO issuers, DLT services providers and crypto fund sponsors, amongst others.
In Gibraltar, the government and the financial services commission have announced that they are developing legislation relating to tokenised digital assets which will regulate the promotion, sale and distribution of tokens by persons connected with Gibraltar, secondary market activities relating to tokens carried out in or from Gibraltar and the provision, by way of business, in or from Gibraltar of investment advice relating to tokens.
Development of this framework, which we anticipate will allow “Regulated Coin Offerings” to be structured from Gibraltar, is expected to generate additional confidence in the space and to offer new opportunities to sponsors in the area.
The Maltese government has also recently launched a consultation paper on a regulatory framework for DLT platforms, including the main service providers such as auditors and administrators of such platforms. The paper also covers regulatory analysis around ICOs and brokers, exchanges and wallet providers dealing in crypto assets. The paper notes that “the presence of a robust regulatory support infrastructure offering access to a full range of services and products whilst offering certainty” is key to pursuing their goal of transforming Malta into an international hub for digital technology innovation. Their consultation paper will remain open for comment until 9 March 2018 and we expect to provide further updates in due course.
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