Following recent growth in initial coin offerings
(ICOs), the Jersey Financial Services Commission
(the Commission) has issued a guidance note
setting out certain minimum standards and requirements in respect
of ICOs. The guidance note is a measured and pragmatic
clarification of the Commission's approach to, and expectations
of, Jersey companies issuing tokens/coins (the
Issuer) as well as the application process.
As is acknowledged in the guidance note, most ICOs will not be
regulated by the Commission, though detailed legal analysis of the
structure of the ICO (including as to whether the tokens have the
features of securities as opposed to, for instance, utility or
cryptocurrency tokens) will be required in order to consider the
potential application of Jersey's regulatory laws, including
the Collective Investment Funds (Jersey) Law 1988 and Alternative
Investment Funds (Jersey) Regulations 2012, the Financial Services
(Jersey) Law 1998, the Banking Business
