“We see the need to regulate them as trading platforms,” Commissioner Amatong said, adding that the legislative frameworks of Australia and Switzerland are currently being reviewed as possible templates.
Commissioner Amatong indicated that the SEC expects to release draft regulations by the end of next week.
“We already discussed the matter with the BSP since the BSP is also interested and we are also interested. The discussion [involved] joint cooperative oversight over VCEs engaged in trading,” he said.
Commissioner Amatong stated that the SEC is developing a permissive legislative apparatus pertaining to ICOs, facilitating a “safe” means for small and medium-sized enterprises to raise capital with the crowdfunding method.
“Part of the promise is technology will allow smaller companies to raise funds in a safe manner,” he said. “Previously, you had to go through all of the infrastructures of the [Philippine Stock Exchange] or [Philippine Dealing Exchange] […] in order to raise the funds but what financial technology promises is you can achieve that through technology at a lower cost so even if you are a small company.”
“You have a way to look for investors without going through the whole process of a security,” Commissioner Amatong added.
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