Tokenized securities Trading Platform iSTOX has received the Monetary Authority of Singapore's (MAS) approval to offer full services to its clients.
Announced on Monday, the platform graduated from the regulator's sandbox, which it joined last May. With this, many restrictions of being a firm under the sandbox have been lifted.
ICHX Tech, the operator of the platform, has received two licenses from the market regulator of the city-state - a recognized market operator (RMO) and a capital markets services (CMS) licensee - which are effective from February 1.
Commenting on the development, Darius Liu, chief operating officer at iSTOX, said: "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."
"We are proud to deliver an operational platform that can address market demand while meeting the robust regulatory standards and licensing conditions set by MAS."
No access to retail traders
The Singapore-based platform will restrict its services to accredited and institutional investors. It will offer tokenization of securities with plans to bring on more issuances across different asset classes.
"We are delighted that the regulatory sandbox has enabled iSTOX to validate its technological innovation with actual customers in a safe manner," Sopnendu Mohanty, chief fintech officer at MAS, said. "This has again demonstrated that proportional regulations through sandbox experimentation can foster innovation and bring new benefits to consumers and the financial industry."
Earlier this month, the platform raised $5 million from South Korea-based asset management company Hanwha Asset Management in January, following the closure of another $5 million round Japan-based Tokai Tokyo Financial Holdings.
The platform is also partially owned by Singapore Exchange (SGX).
"Capital markets across the world are evolving at a rapid pace and those that embrace innovation and set new benchmarks will prove successful. Singapore has long been a world-class fintech hub, known for its innovative business environment. This recognition of iSTOX will further elevate Singapore's capital markets position globally," Chew Sutat, senior managing director and head of global sales & origination at SGX, added.
