New Bitcoin Exchanges and ICOs Rules in the Philippines. There has been a lot of toing and froing in the region of Asia when it comes to cryptocurrency regulations. The likes of China have imposed extremely strict requirements when it comes to cryptocurrencies and it has led to the markets being almost stifled in the country.
Others such as Singapore and Malaysia have been going ahead and drawing up legislation and regulations for the world of cryptocurrencies as they know that this is not a fad and it is something here to stay.
It is worthwhile taking the time to draw up these new regulations to prevent any potential loopholes from existing and the systems in these nations from being taken advantage of. Many of these countries can be praised for their forward thinking and it is certainly an exciting time for the likes of bitcoin and ethereum in the region.
The regulators in the Philippines have new rules related to cryptocurrency exchanges, as well as initial coin offerings (ICOs) under consideration in recent times.
It was on Tuesday that there was a news conference that took place in which Emilio Aquino, the commissioner for the nation’s Securities and Exchange Commission said that they were thinking about classifying ICO offerings as being “securities” when it comes to the Securities Regulation Code, as reported in the Manilla Times.
He says that the reason for this is because they are planning on moving in line with those regulations that have been passed in the United States by their native SEC, as well as taking a similar approach to other countries in the Asia region like Thailand, Hong Kong and Malaysia.
Officials in the Philippines are well aware of how popular the likes of blockchain funding is becoming and they are eager to have the necessary rules and regulations in place that allow the consumer to be protected and not taken advantage of.
The commissioner also discussed that the SEC has been in talks with the central bank in the Philippines, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), with regards to licensing cryptocurrency exchanges.
While some of these types of companies have already received approval after being registered and endorsed by the folks at the BSP, there have been restrictions placed upon them when it comes to money services businesses that work in remittances.
If the proposed regulations and rules go through in the near future, this means that the cryptocurrency exchanges could be allowed to function effectively as money changers. To date, there have been two exchanges registered with the BSP while there are more of them that are currently undergoing the evaluation process.
BSP have been eager to indicate that they are open-minded when it comes to developments in the fintech world and that they will be taking a very active role in order to ensure that all of their policies cater for innovative opportunities. This is very forward thinking on their behalf and could likely yield great results for the wellbeing of their country.
It was earlier this year that they had released guidelines for all bitcoin exchanges in the country, ensuring that they were registered with BSP, as well as with the country’s anti-money laundering authorities.
