Fundraising through security token offerings (STOs) would be approved starting from October at the earliest, which would particularly benefit start-ups, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said yesterday.
The STO regulations are to be a world first, as most of the commission’s foreign counterparts require STOs to comply with existing securities laws, FSC Chairman Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said.
“It was not easy to establish a set of regulations, considering there was little to reference in other nations. We needed to balance consumer protection and industrial growth, and curb market volatility,” Koo told a news conference in New Taipei City.
Although the regulations might not please everyone, they are the best version the commission could think of, he said, adding that the rules would be open to public comment for two months.
A securities token is a kind of virtual currency. Unlike bitcoin, which has no central issuer and can only be created through a process called “mining,” securities tokens are launched by companies that wish to raise funds.
The commission did not change a NT$30 million (US$964,599) fundraising limit stipulated in the draft regulation, although the funds would be exempted from some administrative requirements.
Companies wishing to raise more funds would need to apply to run an experiment in the regulatory sandbox.
However, the commission loosened restrictions on investors by allowing them to purchase NT$300,000 in securities tokens for a single project, up from the previously proposed NT$100,000, based on investors’ opinions shared during a public hearing, Koo said.
To prevent investors from manipulating token prices, the number of tokens traded per day may not exceed half of the total number of issued tokens, Koo said.
Privately held companies registered in Taiwan would be allowed to conduct STOs, whether local or foreign, while listed companies cannot, as they already have other fundraising tools, he said.
The commission has not yet received any STO applications, but start-ups are expected to show interest, as they have fewer fundraising tools, Securities and Futures Bureau Deputy Director-General Tsai Li-ling (蔡麗玲) told the Taipei Times.
Companies would not be permitted to issue tokens on more than one exchange, which is responsible for checking issuers’ qualifications and overseeing their white papers, Koo said.
Exchanges that wish to launch their own securities tokens would be monitored by the Taipei Exchange, Koo said.
Only exchanges with paid-in capital of more than NT$100 million could issue STOs after obtaining a securities dealer license, although they may only help companies conduct one STO per year and the cumulative funds raised may not exceed NT$100 million, the commission said.
Packed into a small room, a drone, bipedal robot, supermarket checkout and other devices showcase a vision of China’s software future — one where an operating system developed by national champion Huawei (華為) has replaced Windows and Android. The collection is at the Harmony Ecosystem Innovation Center in the southern city of Shenzhen, a local government-owned entity that encourages authorities, companies and hardware makers to develop software using OpenHarmony (鴻蒙), an open-source version of the operating system Huawei launched five years ago after US sanctions cut off support for Google’s Android. While Huawei’s recent strong-selling smartphone launches have been closely watched for
The waves of the Aegean Sea lap gently at the tables and chairs of two beach restaurants on Greece’s Halkidiki peninsula. It is an idyllic scene, but one that is totally illegal. Like many others in Greece, the two establishments on Pefkochori Beach do not have a license to set up shop so close to the water. After a wave of protests last summer by locals about bars and restaurants illegally covering beaches with sunbeds and tables, the Greek state is taking action. It is cracking down on rogue tourist practices with surveillance drones, satellite imagery and a special app
South Korea’s SK Hynix Inc, the world’s No. 2 memorychip maker, is to invest 103 trillion won (US$74.6 billion) through 2028 to strengthen its chips business, focusing on artificial intelligence (AI), its parent SK Group said yesterday. SK Group also said it plans to secure 80 trillion won by 2026 to invest in AI and semiconductors as well as fund shareholder returns, while streamlining its more than 175 subsidiaries. The sprawling conglomerate outlined the plans following a two-day strategy meeting, aiming to revive the group after SK Hynix, its main money maker, and the group’s electric vehicle battery arm suffered heavy losses. SK
Luxgen Motor Co (納智捷汽車), a subsidiary of Yulon Motor Co (裕隆汽車), yesterday said it is again offering a NT$100,000 discount for its entry-level n7 electric vehicle models. The n7’s price has gone down from NT$1.099 million to NT$999,000, Luxgen said, adding that there are 25,000 preorders for the model. MG Motor’s electric hatchback, the MG4, entered the market in the middle of last month, with a starting price of NT$990,000. China Motor Corp (中華汽車), which distributes MG vehicles in Taiwan, said it aims to sell 1,600 MG4s this year. MG, originally a British brand, was acquired by China’s SAIC Motor