Bahamas Securities Regulator Proposes Rules for Token Sales

The Bahamas' securities regulator is pushing for a new framework for token projects, aiming to turn the island nation into the jurisdiction of choice for blockchain startups.

The Securities Commission of the Bahamas has filed a draft of the new bill regulating token offerings not deemed securities.

The bill lays out a procedure for registering such offerings and informing authorities and investors on the details of a token sale.

Then the commission decided to come up with guidance that will give the token projects not deemed securities legal certainty.

According to Rolle, the criteria for distinguishing security and utility tokens are still to be drafted and are expected to be ready before the end of May. Even some tokens representing equity shares might be exempted from the country's securities law, but the rules for that are still in the works, Rolle said.

While the artifacts themselves are stored in museums in the Bahamas and around the world, PO8 will be issuing non-fungible tokens representing their value, CEO Matt Arnett told CoinDesk.

According to the bill, shared with CoinDesk, the new regulation will apply to token issuers, wallet providers, exchanges and anyone who is facilitating an initial token offering on the Bahamas.

The bill obliges token projects to publish a memorandum with a description of the project, and if any significant changes are made to the offering, like the class of tokens or the scale of fundraising, the memorandum should be updated in a timely manner.

In the application for the registration, a company would have to give a detailed technical and financial description of the token issuance, covering the project's technology; governance; risks related to anti-money-laundering and counter-financing of terrorism regulations; and even the system's scalability - this will help the regulators evaluate the projects' viability, Rolle said.

To register, token projects will need to hire an attorney who will be the "Sponsor" of the registration and communicate with the regulator.