CRYPTOCURRENCY IN JANUARY, 2018: WHAT REGULATORS ARE SAYING

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South Korea’s chief of the Financial Services Commission: “(The government) is considering both shutting down all local virtual currency exchanges or just the ones who have been violating the law”. Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore, Tharman Shanmugaratnam: “When it comes to money laundering or terrorism financing, Singapore’s laws do not make any distinction between transactions effected using fiat currency, virtual currency or other novel ways of transmitting value. MAS, Singapore’s financial regulator and central bank, will not distinguish between transactions conducted in fiat and cryptocurrency in seeking to enforce its laws. All financial institutions will be subject to the same regulations”.

Brazil’s securities regulator, CVM: “Local investment funds are prohibited from buying cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrencies cannot be considered financial assets. Local funds interested in investing indirectly

in cryptocurrencies by taking a stake in foreign funds should await further clarification from CVM”. China (unnamed officials): “The government plans to block domestic access to homegrown and offshore platforms that enable centralised trading. Authorities will also target individuals and companies that provide market-making, settlement and clearing services for centralised trading”.

US, SEC Chairman Jay Clayton: “A number of concerns have been raised regarding the cryptocurrency and Initial Coin Offering (ICO) markets, including that, as they are currently operating, there is substantially less investor protection than in our traditional securities markets, with correspondingly greater opportunities for fraud and manipulation. Investors should understand that to date no initial coin offerings have been registered with the SEC”.