The subject of regulating Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), frequently referred to as token sales, has lately garnered significant global attention amidst both an enormous increase in the size and scale of ICOs during 2017. In the US, the SEC has concluded that the new digital coins issued by the start-up serve many of the same practical purposes and share some of the same characteristics as traditional shares issued by a corporation. The digital coins sold in the US is expected to be regulated as “securities”. China’s ban on fundraising through launches on token-based digital currencies increased uncertainty among start-ups. Singapore and Switzerland has been considered as two more token friendly nations for creating welcoming environment for fintech and cryptocurrencies. The UK has set up a regulatory sandbox to help test out new financial projects.

We are hosting a global dialogue on the State of ICO Regulations which will bring together the leading experts of this topic from the relevant countries to share their insights on and shed lights on

Host: Xiaochen Zhang, President, FinTech4Good, Blockchain Frontier Group

About the Host

Xiaochen leads the design and implementation of FinTech4Goods’s strategy which aims to introduce cutting edge fintech and blockchain solutions to emerging markets through incubation, acceleration and investment. He brings more than 16 years of thought leadership and global experience to build impactful solutions and scale up innovative ideas in North America, Africa, Latin America, Europe and Asia.

He serves on the Crowdfunding Professional Association Board of Directors, UN ESCAP Digital Economy Task Force and as a senior adviser of the China Social Entrepreneurs Foundation and Inter-America Development Bank. He is also the co-chair of several Blockchain Labs and the Blockchain4SDGs Alliance.

About the Speaker

SIMON CHOI Esq, Founding Partner ACME ARDENT since 2006. He was admitted as a Solicitor of the High Court of Hong Kong in 1997 and a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales in 1998. Mr. Simon Choi has been an independent non-executive director of the Kenford (Stock Code: 00464) (an outstanding ODM hair care manufacturer based in Hong Kong) since August 2011 and Boyaa Interactive (Stock Code: 00434) since October 2013 (a leading online game provider and developer based in Shenzhen) respectively. Mr. Choi was also an independent director of China BCT Pharmacy Group (Stock Code: CNBI) (a drug chain store in Guangxi) from April, 2010 to December, 2013.

Mr. Choi was an Assistant Solicitor of Hastings & Co, Solicitors, where he specialized in banking, corporate finance, general commercial and PRC practice. Between 1998 and 2005, Mr. Choi was the Legal Counsel and Company Secretary of Simatelex (the largest Hong Kong OEM electrical appliances manufacturer) where he advised on corporate, commercial, manufacturing, product liability, banking, intellectual property, insurance, estate development and management, offshore trust matters on Hong Kong, PRC, the USA, Japan and Europe.

He joined TCL (a TV MNC) as an International Legal Counsel in February 2005 and was promoted to General Counsel later where he had visited about 100 countries and advised all legal matters on North America, the EU, China, Emerging Markets, SOEM, Global R&D and Global Manufacturing from listing matters, corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, liquidations and restructurings, band management, intellectual property, procurement of materials, manufacture of SKDs & CKDs in China, logistics relating to international movement of goods, assembling of Kits to finished goods overseas, global sale and marketing of goods, international distribution of goods, after-sale and maintenance of goods, to remittance of monies from overseas into China. He has rich experience in international litigation as well. He managed various teams of about 70 lawyers and paralegals with high differentiation in ethnics and cultures in 19 countries and regions for nearly 10 years globally.

Mr Choi is an advisor and a co-counsel of Mei & Mark LLP, US, a boutique firm in intellectual property and corporate finance and an advisor of Shu Jin Law Firm, China, a top tier corporate finance firm in Shenzhen. He is an advisor of Asia Equity Exchange too. He is appointed as legal advisors of the following trade associations: the Shenzhen Federation of Industries, the Hong Kong Electrical Appliances Industries Association, the Shenzhen Qianhai International Ship

Trading Center, the Hong Kong Mould Technologies Association, the Elite Chamber of Commerce, Shenzhen, and the Shenzhen Marina Club. With his unique academic and professional qualifications, Mr Simon Choi has rich experience in advising international clients.