The clampdown demonstrates its continued commitment and
vigilance towards policing the trading or offering of Digital
Tokens which breach securities regulations.
On 24 May 2018, the Monetary Authority of Singapore
("MAS") issued a first-of-its-kind official media release stating that it
had taken action against eight Digital Token Exchanges, and
directed a Token Issuer to cease its token offering, leading to the
proceeds of such issuance being swiftly returned to local
purchasers. These enforcement actions were taken in response to
securities law violations under the Securities and Futures Act
("SFA").
MAS also reiterated that without first obtaining the requisite
approvals or recognition by MAS, all digital token issuers,
intermediaries and platforms that offer, facilitate or trade
digital tokens are not allowed to deal in tokens which adopt
elements of a security or futures contract, as defined in the
SFA.
