On Sept. 30, the Nikkei Asian Review reported that firms such as SBI Securities, Nomura Securities, Monex Group and Daiwa Securities Group are part of the STO association that will propose a new set of rules and seek approval from the country’s financial watchdog organization, the Financial Services Agency.
Leading Japanese companies are forming a regulatory association for security token offerings (STO).
STO’s are set to become a new way of raising capital in Japan as early as next April when a legal change will make them an option for firms to raise capital from assets like real estate.
The legal change reportedly clarifies disclosure requirements and other regulatory issues. Consequently, big Japanese brokerages are increasingly willing to explore possible STO business opportunities.
Similar to an initial coin offering (ICO), an STO investor receives a token representing their investment, but unlike an ICO, a security token represents an investment contract into an underlying investment asset, such as stocks, bonds, funds and real estate investment trusts.
The viability of security token offerings in Japan purportedly will depend on how the association intends to protect STO investors.
Security token offerings open movie financing to masses
Cointelegraph previously reported that STOs make the financing of certain projects more available to ordinary investors. The film industry, in particular, has seen several tokenized projects that open up movie financing to a large pool of investors.
Speaking to Cointelegraph, Ali Vatansever, an award-winning film director and founder of Indiewonder – a blockchain-based film fund – insisted that the opportunities provided by tokenization are not confined to the movies themselves:
“The film industry is currently only producing movies that the so-called ‘experts’ and the decision-makers behind the production funding think will be profitable. They depend on market research, past success, or just on their gut feeling.
“By tokenizing the film industry, the audience will be empowered and will ultimately decide on what movies will be produced. The whole entertainment industry, Hollywood studios, and fan culture will change. I often say: Everything that can be tokenized will be tokenized.”
According to analytics firm Inwara, STOs increased by a massive 130% in the first three months of 2019 alone.
LATOKEN schedules VI Blockchain Economic Forum with $3B AUM of confirmed funds among participants
LATOKEN will hold VI Blockchain Economic Forum on the 20th September in London. The top-10 cryptocurrency exchange will host the blockchain industries premier VC/blockchain funds and startups to discuss future capital market, fundraising and strategy.
Over 30 VC/crypto funds with total assets under management over $3 billion have confirmed their participation. Among them:
- Karim-PatrickKhiar, Partner at COMAC Capital (AUM $1 billion)
- Henry Elder, Director of Investment strategies at Wavemaker Genesis ($300 million)
- Michael Bucella, Partner of BlockTower Capital ($140 million)
- Lewis Fellas, Director at Bletchley Park Asset Management ($120 million)
- Matthew Le Merle, Managing Partner at Blockchain Coinvestors ($50 million)
The list of confirmed participants also includes executives from CoinShares, VU Capital, Bletchley Park Asset Management, Napoleon Capital, FGC Group, Arca Funds, Grow VC Group, Columbus Capital, Prime Factor Capital, Base58, etc.
Panel discussions will be joined by Fund executives to review recent and future market trends. “Round Table Money 2025”, “Venture Capital 2025”, “Hedge Funds 2025” and “Seeking Alpha: The Traders and Portfolio investors panel”.
A separate discussion will be around monetary policy and governance for Libra and L. Libra is a blockchain digital currency proposed by Facebook and L is a global currency proposed by LATOKEN to help millions of people access the new global financial system.
Internationally acclaimed industry leaders, multi-billion-dollar VC funds, top fintech founders and CEOs visit Blockchain Economic Forum regularly to discuss the transition of capital markets and payment systems to the blockchain.
Vicente Fox (former President of Mexico), Rosen Plevneliev (former President of Bulgaria), Tim Draper, Nouriel Roubini (NYU professor), Joe Oliver (former Minister of Finance of Canada), Laura Tyson (former Director of the US President’s National Economic Council), Gary Gensler (CFTC Chairman under President Obama) and many others used to be speakers on LATOKEN events.
