This week, security token startup Harbor received a transfer agent license from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Transfer agents record changes of ownership, maintain issuers' security holder records, cancel and issue certificates, and distribute dividends. Harbor's acquisition of this license, along with the broker-dealer license it was granted in September by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), brings it closer to becoming a "one-stop shop" for digital asset issuance. It is the first blockchain company to receive both licenses.
On Nov. 1, the United Kingdom's tax, payments and customs authority, HM Revenue & Customs, released a white paper explaining how the administrative body will tax cryptoasset exchange token transactions undertaken by companies and other businesses. The guidance provides a detailed breakdown of fact-specific circumstances that may affect taxpayer liabilities for trading, mining and other cryptocurrency-related activities. And in Hong Kong, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) published a position paper outlining its regulatory approach to virtual asset trading, stating that it will only grant licenses to platforms capable of meeting the standards. Its guidance will reportedly allow investors to better distinguish between platforms that are regulated from those that are unregulated.
For more information, please refer to the following links:
- Harbor Now Has Both Broker-Dealer and Transfer Agent Licenses in the US
- UK Policy paper: Cryptoassets: tax for businesses
- Hong Kong: SFC'S REGULATORY APPROACH TO VIRTUAL ASSET TRADING PLATFORMS
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