iSTOX, a one-stop digitised securities issuance, custody, and trading capital markets platform, announced today it graduated from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)’s Fintech Regulatory Sandbox on February 1, 2020.
ICHX Tech Pte Ltd (ICHX), which is the Singapore-based operator of the iSTOX platform, has earned the recognised market operator (RMO) and a capital markets services (CMS) licences from the MAS.
ICHX is a capital markets infrastructure and technology company that was previously the incubatee of ICH Group, a Singapore-based investment firm.
The license, iSTOX claims, makes it the first capital markets platform using distributed ledger technology (DLT) to feature integrated issuance, custody, and training of digitised securities to be approved and licensed by a major regulator.
Furthermore, iSTOX said that graduating from the MAS sandbox means the removal of restrictions for iSTOX, including limitations on the size of issuance that it can host and a number of investors that can be onboarded.
“We started this just over two years ago as a vision of how investing could be done better. This is a big milestone both for iSTOX and for the financial industry as a whole,” said Danny Toe, Founder and CEO of ICHX.
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“While capital markets have seen many changes and innovations over the years, the underlying core infrastructure hasn’t really changed since the advent of electronic trading decades ago,” said iSTOX Chief Operating Officer Darius Liu. “We are proud to deliver an operational platform that can address market demand while meeting the regulatory standards and licensing conditions set by MAS.”
MAS Chief fintech Officer Sopnendu Mohanty commented. “This has again demonstrated that proportional regulations through sandbox experimentation can foster innovation and bring new benefits to consumers and the financial industry. We look forward to furthering our collaboration with innovators as we build a smart financial centre.”
iSTOX draws on advanced smart contracts and DLT to streamline the issuance and trading process. By allowing buyers and sellers to connect directly, iSTOX removes long-standing barriers that have prevented a far greater pool of investors from access to private market opportunities with a more flexible, affordable, and inclusive alternative.
Chief Commercial Officer Oi Yee Choo said: “In addition to opening registration for accredited and institutional investors, we’re working hard on a pipeline of exciting issuance across different asset classes.”
Also Read: Capital markets platform iSTOX raises US$5M from Korea’s Hanhwa
Key investors of ICHX include Singapore Exchange (SGX), Asia’s international multi-asset exchange; Heliconia, a subsidiary of Temasek Holdings focussed on investing in fast-growing companies; Japan’s Tokai Tokyo Financial Holdings (via subsidiary Tokai Tokyo Global Investments); Thailand’s Kiatnakin Phatra Financial Group; and South Korea’s Hanwha Asset Management.
Meanwhile, to further strengthening its digitised security ecosystem, ICHX has also partnered with law firms Allen & Overy, Allen & Gledhill, Rajah & Tann, and Dentons Rodyk; with corporate finance advisors SAC Capital and RHT Capital; and with services firms PwC Singapore and audit firm Deloitte.
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Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash
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