The European Parliament in Brussels has taken a further step towards clarifying rules for ICOs within the nations of the European Community.
The all-party group met yesterday to examine proposals for the launching of ICOs although as yet no formal statements of intent have been made regarding the outcome of the meeting. Nicolas Brien of France Digitale did urge for haste, however, arguing that “the market wants legitimization… from every jurisdiction. In the UK it’s particularly bad, none of the banks will bank you if you have crypto”.
Two weeks ago, the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) published a draft report that offers insights into new regulatory frameworks for crowdfunding. ICOs received a notable mention in the report stating, “It takes a much-needed step towards imposing standards and protections in place for what is an excellent funding stream for tech start.”
Brien went on to explain:
“Having the certainty, but also having that legitimization, I actually welcome having a European-wide proposal because it gives people the certainty to know. I think we need to be clear whether this is a utility token or a transferable security, or how the regulator regime looks at that, but I think this can be done because an ICO is another form of crowdfunding. It’s different, but it is a form of crowdfunding.”
As is so often the case at such meeting many regulators got on to discussing the need to prevent potential fraud and scams requiring a higher level of scrutiny than is currently the case. Laura Royle of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) echoed those thoughts at the meeting commenting:
“…we certainly do see a huge potential benefit in this space for firms to raise capital from a broad array of investors and without the cost of an intermediary, but there are risks associated [such as] the potential for fraud, with a lack of transparency and the volatility.”
There are current EU estimates that as many as 81% of ICOs could result in fraud. However, if new regulations result in a higher standard than is currently evident, then this may set the example for productive projects in the future within the EU. How this will apply to ICOs within the UK is still uncertain, given the country’s departure from the EU in March of 2019.
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