By Rudolf Haas and Urszula McCormack King & Wood Mallesons’

The growing number of token sales or “Initial Coin Offerings” (ICOs) has prompted the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) to issue a “consumer warning” on November 9, 2017. BaFin also elaborated on its position in the November edition of its monthly “BaFin-Journal”, published on November 15. In a separate, but almost contemporaneous publication, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) also took a stance.

Overall, these were balanced statements that signalled a strong “buyer beware” message, but also implied a certain level of tolerance for properly issued ICOs. The regulators made clear that their approach is a careful case-by-case analysis.
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