UAE plans initial coin offerings to boost capital markets: regulator

The United Arab Emirates plans to introduce initial coin offerings (ICOs) next year to provide companies with a fresh way to raise money, the head of the securities regulator said on Monday.

The United Arab Emirates plans to introduce initial coin offerings (ICOs) next year to provide companies with a fresh way to raise money, the head of the securities regulator said on Monday.

In ICOs, companies issue cryptocurrency tokens to investors, in much the same way as they issue shares in an initial public offer of equity.

“The board of the Emirates Securities & Commodities Authority has approved considering ICOs as securities. As per our plan we should have regulations on the ground in the first half of 2019,” Obaid Saif al-Zaabi told a seminar.