UAE’s Securities and Commodities Authority to regulate ICOs

The SCA sees ICOS and tokens as securities

Securities and Commodities Authority SCA announced on Sunday September 9^th 2018 a resolution approving the regulatory control of Fintech. The announcement was made by H.E. Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy and Chairman of the Securities and Commodities Authority. This is one of several initiatives aimed at upgrading the financial services sector in the UAE. The resolution will become applicable on the next day of publishing in the official Gazette. As mentioned in the announcement, “The resolution allows the SCA to plan the regulation of ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings) and recognize them as securities in line with what other countries are doing worldwide.

The Board of Directors, having reviewed a study on the best international practices in this regard, has issued a directive that the procedures for trading digital token are to be regulated. The plan developed by the SCA includes a set of mechanisms as part of an integrated project to regulate digital securities and commodities.