Black Manta Capital Partners announced on Aug. 19 that its Berlin-based entity received a MiFID II license by BaFin for its regulated STO platform on Aug. 1 nine months after filing. Now, the company will be able to offer regulated brokerage services using blockchain technology.
Luxembourg-registered financial firm Black Manta Capital Partners has received a license from the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) for its Security Token Offering (STO) platform.
On its platform, the firm represents rights to an asset as tokens managed by on-chain contracts.
A regulated STO platform in Germany
This system reportedly allows for new access to capital for small and medium-sized enterprises, real estate projects, startups, commodity markets or funds and new access to investments for new investors.
A firm with global ambitions
The issuance of such security tokens is regulated in Germany by the MiFID II Directive on Financial Instruments, and the first STOs are planned to be conducted in early Q4 2019. The company has also broader ambitions:
“Apart from the licenced operating entity in Berlin, Black Manta Capital Partners drive the market launch of their investment platform also through BMCP Consulting in Vienna and BMCP Limited for international business development, based at the Malta Stock Exchange in Valletta.”
The firm also plans to found Black Manta Asia, in Singapore, and apply for a similar license with the local monetary authority.
Co-founder and managing partner of the company commented on the firm’s intentions:
“While Black Manta Capital Partners want to be ‘boutique’ in its beginnings and run ‘handpicked’ STOs only, our strategy is global from day one: the first step is to link Europe and Asia on one blockchain-based investment platform. Therefore we look already today into Singapore.”
As Cointelegraph reported in July, Latin America’s biggest investment bank, BTG Pactual, plans to shift its security token offerings (STOs), a pipeline of over $1 billion in sales, onto the Tezos blockchain.
German SolarisBank Opens Subsidiary to Provide Custody Services for Digital Assets
Berlin-based fintech company solarisBank has established a subsidiary to provide a custody solution for digital assets.
Per a Dec. 11 announcement, solarisBank’s newly established subsidiary, solaris Digital Assets GmbH, will provide clients with an application programming interface (API)-accessible platform, which gives access to the full range of solarisBank’s digital white-label banking services.
No need to apply for a license
The announcement further reads that solaris Digital Assets will operate in compliance with the regulatory requirements of the German market, as well as ensure storage of digital assets that is compliant. This, according to the company, will release clients from the need to apply for a license themselves. Solaris Digital Assets plans to apply for a license for the crypto custody business in 2020.
Commenting on the subsidiary launch, Alexis Hamel, managing director of solaris Digital Assets, said:
“The current infrastructure is simply not customer-friendly enough for mass adoption. That’s why we want to empower digital asset pioneers with our one-stop-shop platform, which provides a cutting-edge custody solution alongside licensed digital banking services, such as accounts, cards or KYC services.”
Custody services gain traction
Earlier in December, DXM, a financial services subsidiary of South Korean fintech firm Dunamu, revealed plans to launch an institutional crypto asset custody service, in collaboration with crypto cybersecurity firm Ledger. DXM plans to launch the custodian under the name Upbit Safe and that Ledger Vault, Ledger’s custody arm, will support the initiative with its technology.
Also, Fidelity Digital Asset Services, LLC (FDAS) procured a charter from the New York State Department of Financial Services to operate a virtual currency custody and execution platform, where both institutional investors and individuals can store, buy, sell and transfer Bitcoin.
