Taiwanese Financial Supervisory Commission to introduce new STO

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On Monday, the Taiwanese Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) announced plans to establish a new security token offering (STO) as a mechanism for raising capital. A symposium has been established for April of this year, and it will listen to opinions and plan on what should be the guidelines and regulations that will be established related to this fundraising.

News of the STO came from the Taiwan Economic Daily. While the FSC is an independent agency of the Taiwanese government, it still falls under the Executive Yuan of the government. The chairman of the FSC explained that the STO could include existing stock exchanges, but will also look for different products in emerging markets, as new teams have been created to design ideas that could be used for the next five to 10 years.

The STO plan has been in the works since late October. The Tapei Times reported on October 23 that an initial coin offering (ICO) was already established for June 2019 directly related to this current fundraising plan. The plans were created in conjunction with ideas for regulation, but the chairman of the Taiwanese financial regulator, Wellington Koo, expressed concern about how regulations may hinder the progress of their plans.

“The more we regulate, the more this new economic behavior wanes,” he explained to those attending the committee meeting. While there has been growing concern in the digital currency market related to fraud, there is also concern that too much regulation could hinder the progress of cryptocurrencies.

This has been the delicate balance that has led the FSC to look for additional options to be able to raise the necessary funds. In December, the deputy secretary of the Securities and Exchange Commission in Thailand had already announced plans to regulate STOs, but no formal plans or regulations were established. These were to be created to help regulate shared ownership, as well as voting rights and dividends.

It is hoped that the committee will be fruitful in establishing a delicate balance that helps to increase venture capital while still maintaining solid regulations. Should this be accomplished, they should be ready to push forward with plans by the end of June 2019.