Carey Olsen and JTC advise on Jersey's first 'Initial Coin Offering'

Tuesday 19 December 2017

Carey Olsen and JTC have advised ARC Fiduciary Ltd on the launch of Jersey's first Initial Coin Offering (ICO)

The ICO will see the issue of the ARC Reserve Currency, which is expected to become a widely used asset-backed 'stablecoin' virtual currency.

Counsel Chris Griffin  led the Carey Olsen team advising ARC Fiduciary Ltd and was assisted by associate Joseph Barker-Willis: "Against a very tight timetable, the Jersey regulator adopted a sensible and risk-based approach. The market will acknowledge that ICOs launched out of Jersey will have been approved by the local regulator, giving ICO investors a level of confidence that other jurisdictions may not be able to provide."

Commenting on the ICO launch, Stephen Findlay, co-founder of the ARC Reserve Currency, said: "The asset management industry is only just beginning to embrace blockchain technology, yet as an industry it is likely to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of distributed ledger technology. One of the challenges the industry faces is to establish the correct regulatory approach for asset- backed cryptocurrencies – or so called ‘crypto assets’. In establishing ARC Reserve Currency (a crypto asset) we wanted to start to address this regulatory challenge and help to establish a positive framework and appropriate regulatory environment for all crypto assets.

"We selected Jersey as it was clear that they are one of the most forward-thinking and co-ordinated jurisdictions for cryptocurrencies. They were pro-active and engaged in reviewing our approach, and have enabled an important initial step in regulating the issuers of future crypto assets. There is still much more to be done on a global scale to establish an appropriate regulatory framework, which can accommodate the borderless nature of crypto assets. Nonetheless, we would recommend the issuer of any potential crypto asset to consider starting their efforts in Jersey."

Adding his comments, Mark Grenyer, Director of Fund Services at JTC, said: “JTC is delighted to play such an integral part in another first for Jersey’s world-class finance sector. JTC has always prided itself on its client focused service and ability to embrace innovation and entrepreneurship.  It has been a fascinating and rewarding experience to work together with our professional colleagues at Carey Olsen and the very impressive founders of ARC in seeing this pioneering project to conclusion."

Pictured:  Mark Grenyer and Joseph Barker Willis.