The financial regulator of Australia, the ASIC (Australian Securities and Investment Commission) has just published new guidelines on how to handle, operate and research initial coin offerings (ICO), as well as guides on handling cryptocurrency transactions and trades.
The announcement was made on the official website of the regulator earlier today.
What are the guidelines?
The regulator only talked about local guidelines in the borders of the ASIC regulatory frameworks and legislation. No focus was made on foreign institutions that offer financial services on cryptocurrencies. However, the guidelines are quite clear and easy to follow for any crypto company operating in Australia.
The guidelines specify that every crypto asset that is classified as a financial product needs to be issued only by those who hold a local ASIC license.
The laws will also apply to miners and transaction processors who will be classified as CS (clearing and settlement) providers of the crypto industry. Therefore a license may be essential for them as well.
The regulator recommends every crypto company to carefully analyze their business model in terms of initial coin offerings. The product must be labelled as a financial product if it has its characteristics. Naturally, if the company does not commit to this law, then several fines or even the revocation of a license is to be expected.
The regulator also reminded entities that the KYC and anti-money laundering laws will need to be enforced with a bit more attention, as crypto scams in the country have been mounting at a rapid pace.
Overall, the introduction of these new guidelines is nothing to worry about for the Aussie crypto trading community. As long as they stick to a licensed company then scam avoidance is pretty much guaranteed.
