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The approval of the first security prospectus for a security token offering by BaFin at the beginning of this year came like a thunderbolt to German capital markets regulation. The Authority proved itself open for innovations. At the same time, the German legislator is laying the groundwork for facilitating the emission of security tokens in […]

Mitigating money laundering and terrorist financing are tasks that can only be addressed with internationally coordinated actions because of their global context. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is since its establishment in 1989 the driving force of these agendas. Even though the Paris based institution as an intergovernmental organization does not hold legislative powers […]

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”3.22″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.10.6″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.10.6″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_button button_text=”for German version click here” _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” custom_button=”on” button_text_size=”13px” button_border_width=”1px” button_border_radius=”0px” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” button_url=”/8-millionen-euro-ueber-security-token-offering-ohne-prospekt-was-sind-die-voraussetzungen/” sticky_enabled=”0″][/et_pb_button][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”3.27.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”] In the summer of 2018 the German legislator decided to allow […]

Some of the biggest internationally operating crypto exchanges started recently to offer so called initial exchange offerings (IEO). For a couple of months now, interested companies can procure funds through this new blockchain funding method by publicly offering their blockchain tokens on platforms like Binance Launchpad, KuCoin, Bittrex IEO, Huobi Prime and OK Jumpstarter. By […]

Notice: This blog article refers to the first draft of the German Ministry of Finance dated 20th May 2019 which in this form has not been realized by the legislator. On 20 May 2019, the German Ministry of Finance published its first draft for the transposition of the provisions of the 5. European AML Directive into national […]

BaFin expressed its new, general administrative practice concerning the qualification of security tokens in an article in the BaFin journal of April 2019. Under this new administrative practice security tokens, meaning all tokens granting its owner membership or equity-like rights and that are freely tradable and transferable will be qualified as securities sui generis. This qualification by […]

Eine Krypto Tauschplattform kann auf vielerlei Arten ausgestaltet werden. Die sie ausmachende Kernfunktion ist das Zusammenbringen von Angebot und Nachfrage hinsichtlich der Anschaffung und Veräußerung von Kryptowährungen. Auch Plattformen, die kein automatisiertes Order-Matching-Verfahren bieten oder nicht selbst als Vertragspartner ihrer Kunden beim Kauf oder Verkauf von Kryptowährungen auftreten, sondern sich auf die grundlegende Aufgabe der […]

Europe offers a lot of advantages, especially for financial service providers that are located within the European Union (EU) if it comes to the internationalization of their business model. The progressive harmonization of the legislation regarding financial supervision and the capital markets within the European Union allows supervised and regulated banks and financial service providers […]

A crypto exchange platform does not always have to be designed comparable to professional stock exchanges for requiring the operator to obtain a BaFin permission. Platforms not automatically matching and executing the buy and sell orders of the users can also be required to acquire a BaFin permission prior to its launch if it is […]

Security tokens are blockchain tokens that are issued via smart contracts and that grant to their owner certain monetary rights like e.g. an interest rate or a participation right on the issuing companies’ profit. In this respect the security token differs from the utility token which grants its holder access to or benefits within the […]

Bitcoins and comparable cryptocurrencies are, according to BaFin, classified as financial instruments as defined in the German Banking Act (KWG). Therefore, a BaFin license is a mandatory prerequisite for operating a crypto exchange in Germany. What are the requirements to fulfil in order to obtain such license and what are the conceptual design options for […]

Besides of the regulatory qualification of security tokens as security, shares in investment funds or alternative investment assets quite a number of private law issues are raised when conducting securities token offerings. The most prominent pitfall when it comes to private law and security tokens is the fact that the German Civil Code BGB in […]