SC revises guidelines on digital assets - Focus Malaysia

THE Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) has revised its guidelines on digital assets effective today to regulate initial exchange offerings (IEO) and digital asset custodians (DAC).

In a statement, the SC said the revised guidelines would facilitate its objectives in promoting responsible innovation in the digital asset space, while at the same time, managing emerging risks and safeguarding the interests of issuers and investors.

Earlier in January 2020, the regulator introduced a framework to enable companies to raise funds via the issuance of digital tokens in Malaysia through an IEO platform registered by the SC. 

“Under the new guidelines, IEO platform operators will be required to assess and conduct the necessary due diligence on the issuer and review the issuer’s proposal and the disclosures in the whitepaper.

“The IEO platform operators are also required to assess the issuer’s ability to comply with the requirements of the new guidelines and the SC’s guidelines on prevention of money laundering and terrorism financing,” it said.

According to the SC, the revised guidelines also included rules and regulations on DAC to facilitate interested parties who wish to provide custody services for digital assets. 

“Digital asset custodians play an important role within the digital asset ecosystem of the Malaysian capital market to safeguard digital assets of investors,” it added. – Oct 28,2020 Bernama