his is something we are saying from the very beginning. ICO era will end sooner or later. Fundraising in an unregulated manner when everybody is trying to say that they release utility tokens can't stand. Neufund stands that it's a kind of security (depending on jurisdiction there might be different classification) if you use tokens for funding of the company (which was exactly said in the latest Swiss regulatory publication)....
Well i really like this project. But it would be nice if your lawyer could answer shortly 2 questions. Because in the Whitepaper and with your answer here you (as a company) always dance around 2 questions.
1.
What classification under the german laws do you guys hope for how the ETOs (not Neumark) of the companies that you plan to fund will be treated from Bafin?As "Finanzinstrumente" (financial instruments is a legal term in germany), "Wertpapiere" (securities) or what else and under which of the many laws
do you *want* to be classified (WpHG, WpPG, VermAnlG)? What would be your goal?
2. In your whitepaper you write that you plan enabling trading of the ETO tokens on your patform. So what kind of license
do you think you require from Bafin to do this? No law essay just an answer whether you think you are "multi lateral trading platform" (thats a legal term in germany) or a fully fledged Exchange? A LOT depends on those things.
The Bafin starting with the end of last year has issued a series of some sometimes quite severe warnings:
the Nov statement is a especially worrisome for this project:
Therefore, undertakings and persons that arrange the acquisition of tokens, sell or purchase tokens on a commercial basis, or operate secondary market platforms on which tokens are traded are generally required to obtain authorisation from BaFin in advance.
source:https://www.bafin.de/SharedDocs/Veroeffentlichungen/EN/Fachartikel/2017/fa_bj_1711_ICO_en.html
so the Bafin states that BEFORE you launch the platform you need to have a permission from Bafin.
When are you planning to apply for this license? I could not find ANYTHING on the web that you have applied. How long do you think it will take to get the license? Do you think you can start with the ETOs this year, or do you think it will take longer?
The statement then continues:
If BaFin receives information indicating dealings which might be prohibited, it investigates them and, where necessary, intervenes by administrative means. Independently of this, trading without the required authorisation is punishable by law and the law enforcement authorities are responsible for the prosecution of such criminal offences.
So to sum up you really need your permission before you can start your platform. And therefore you need to think about as what you want to be seen (legally).
And the End of the statement sounds like they literally address Neufund, which is no wonder, since you guys have a lot of attention here (which is good!):
Therefore, commercial offerors of token sales and operators of brokerage platforms in Germany also face substantial risks
I talked to some people here in the last 2 weeks and more and more people are getting worried about this. Since you never covered this in
the right way giving a clear answer what you try to achieve It started with the Whitepaper having just 1 Sentence about it: "Equity tokens are deemed securites under German law" ( I think you used the word "securities" here in a lax way and it would be much better i you weren't treated as securities)
And the Bafin is getting more and more active in the recent weeks sending more and more warnings, some serious in tone. And i think that is what is behind the falling prices...The radiosilence regarding a real outlook is getting awkward. After the recent "Hinweisschreiben" from Bafin it is clear that this is not going away from alone or solve itself!!
Could your lawyer just write 2-3 sentences about what you guys hope to get classified for? Your laywer looks very good, is invested in the company (which is good). I am sure he has some
substantial thoughts about this. And i think this project needs some public support from the communityto go through, to many projects have been killed by the Bafin. so it would be good if you could give some "Amunition" to do so.
You would absolutely lose nothing by giving your outlook of how you feel this issues should be treated, instead of the same old answer with yes we have a lawyer and everything is fine...After 3 months this is getting a bit worrisome...
