Fintech Association of Hong Kong Publishes ICO Best Practices

With Initial Coin Offerings surging past $4 billion, the Fintech Association of Hong Kong has published guidelines to help firms run potentially-successful token sales in the former colony.

The paper (PDF)– which was written in conjunction with the Hong Kong fintech community – aims to provide “insights and suggested general practices” for those thinking about doing a token sale, and it covers issues such as fit, taxes, and various legalities. It is purportedly “the most comprehensive of its kind globally to date.”

“The FinTech community in Hong Kong is keen to ensure that those who decide to conduct a token sale do so by implementing the latest global best practices in this space,” said Karen Contet Farzam, board member at the FinTech Association of Hong Kong. “Whilst there are no detailed regulatory guidelines around token sales, we believe it is important for the community to set some voluntary best practices that entrepreneurs can follow.”

Meanwhile, Urszula McCormack, co-chair of the Policy & Advocacy Committee, had this to say:

“Digital assets have an important role to play in blockchain-based solutions and the digital economy. The speed of their evolution has made it difficult for regulation to keep pace at every turn, but there have been brutal misconceptions about tokens operating in a vacuum, or (conversely) being inherent scam and money laundering vehicles. It’s true that a token sale is not right for everyone. However, most “good” projects want to know how to run a strong, safe, fair and legal sale, with a long-term roadmap for success. This paper helps them achieve that.”

Photo: Mark Lehmkuhler