The Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission is reportedly deferring the release of the final rules on ICOs to mid-January.
Changes to the rules were expected to be revealed at the end of last year, however, a number of stake holders have asked for more time in order to better familiarise themselves with the draft, according to CCN.
In conjunction with the postponement of the release, public comments will continue to be made open until the release of the final changes.
The proposed rules around ICOs were released in August last year and featured 12 salient points.
Outlined in the document was that all ICOs conducted within the Philippines or by a Philippine company are required to undergo an initial assessment. This includes an assessment request and attached documents, such as proposed whitepaper. The company is burdened with the task of proving its tokens are not security tokens.
Following the receival of this, the SEC has 20 days to complete the assessment and determine whether the token are security tokens or not. If they are, the issuer must register them before the pre-sale commences.
Exemptions to this come if the ICO falls under exemptions from registration or if they are exclusively offered through crowdfunding portals.
Startups conducting security token ICOs are required to be incorporate, or if they are foreign corporations, they must have a branch office in the Philippines.
The security token issuer is required to submit a code audit report which includes the source code, KYC/AMLA framework, technology risks and security protocols.
Finally, the token issuer is required to keep proceeds under escrow with a reputable agent. The agreement between the two must state that proceeds will only be withdrawn once the escrow agent is presented with the issuer’s work progress report. Alongside this, if the soft cap target for the project is not reached, funds must be returned.
Europe is also in the process of looking into the regulations of ICOs. Late last year, The European Union’s securities watchdog began to examine the space to see whether it needs regulations.
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