In July, The Tokenizer published The Security Token RegRadar Report produced in collaboration with the government of Liechtenstein. As part of the report, we did a line of qualitative interviews with leading legal experts from the selected countries, and in the coming weeks, we will publish these interviews on The Tokenizer.
Common to most of the interviews is that they provide an insight into the individual countries’ regulatory development history with regard to security tokens. Also, the interviews give an impression of to which extent the countries in question have an accommodating and friendly attitude towards the new industry of security tokens. In this second interview, we are looking at Singapore and interviewing Li-Ling Ch’ng, Partner, RHTLaw Asia.
Could you please tell a bit about how Singapore got into the tokenization and security token space?
Li-Ling Ch’ng (LLC): Actually, I think that compared to, for instance, Liechtenstein, we are still relatively new to this. My understanding is that Liechtenstein already has passed its blockchain law.
Whereas Singapore’s current position regarding security tokens is still based on traditional securities regulations. We analyze the token to see what its characteristics are. And as long as it complies or fits the definition of securities or capital market products, we deem it to fall within the jurisdiction of the securities and futures act. So that is the quick and short answer.
Whether I consider Singapore to be open and friendly towards tokenization, the answer is definitely yes. I can share a few examples with you. Our Monetary Authority of Singapore has been very progressive. In 2016 they rolled out a project called Project Ubin, an industry-wide collaboration between banks, including J.P. Morgan, and technology service providers to use blockchain technology and enable instantaneous delivery and payment. So clearing and settlement of payments as well as securities. And that’s just one…
