[Havelock] The Panama Fund, S.A. Acquires HavelockInvestments.com

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the reach of US law enforcement is global

In theory, yes.
In practice, governments struggle to close a lot of much more high profile websites.
The Internet, and now Bitcoin is highly censorship resistant.

Not if you feel that bitcoin presents a genuine threat to fiat & the moneyed elite.
If bitcoin truly is a disruptive technology, why wouldn't the powers-that-be pay close attention to it & try to nip it in the bud?
OTOH, if it is just another horsefly not worth a tail swat, you got a point.

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My point is simple:
Either the governments see bitcoin as a real threat, in which case they will make a serious effort, or they don't, in which case they won't.

Pirate Bay as a threat is no more serious than shoplifting.  Perhaps bitcoin is no more important, though many users here might disagree.

[canth]

Oh I have no doubt they will eventually try. My point is that it isn't easy, even if you have billions of lawyers and lobbying (see The Pirate Bay, which at that points stays up just for the lulz).

Operating a torrent tracker with magnet links is more of a gray area than operating an exchange listing unregistered securities, advertised and sold to the American citizens. I'll agree with you that shutting down an exchange isn't easy and takes months or years to investigate and coordinate with local authorities. However, in the long run, I do not believe that Panamanian authorities will side with Havelock over the SEC. Perhaps operating for 12-18 months with US IP ranges blocked will give enough time to establish a decentralized blockchain based exchange operation. At that point, I see that the risk will shift from the issuer AND exchange operator to purely the issuer being targeted for enforcement, but it still won't go away.

[ffssixtynine]

I'd be surprised if havelock don't have to vet users to comply with us securities law within 6 months, if not 3. Whilst they are outside the US, the SEC could well put pressure on Panama to shut down havelock. They may not cooperate with the sec in general but that doesn't mean they won't in this case. This just looks like kicking the bucket a bit further away but nothing more. Bitfunder tried all kinds of things but failed.

There are very legitimate reasons that lawyers will advise Belize or Panama, it is not done on some random whim. Those same lawyers will also offer no guarantees because you can't do this and be fully compliant when the law hasn't caught up yet.

I believe Kickstarter also have done illegal or non-legal grey area things for the same reason. Boundaries get pushed, regulation adjusts to match.

What the SEC really care about it Americans losing money. Individual securities may escape scrutiny if people make their money back but an exchange is always going to be studied with deep interest.

Someone posted that the SEC probably aren't concerned. Well you're wrong. They very much are and they have been in touch with at least two of the major exchanges. Those within bitcoin regulatory areas were aware of this issue back in late July as I was investigating the area at the time.

[User705]

My point is simple:
Either the governments see bitcoin as a real threat, in which case they will make a serious effort, or they don't, in which case they won't.

Pirate Bay as a threat is no more serious than shoplifting.  Perhaps bitcoin is no more important, though many users here might disagree.

Exactly so this "official" exchange is just marketing.  Either governments don't give a shit then it doesn't matter and one should be more concerned about the real people behind it or governments get cranky and then it won't matter how "official" the exchange is if they really crack down hard.

[havelock]

The Panama Fund, SA has been registered and licensed since 2008 with Superintendencia del Mercado de Valores (English: Superintendency of Securities Market)  as a Sociedades de Inversión Privadas (English: Private Investment Company).
http://www.supervalores.gob.pa/files/Sociedades/Sociedades_Inversion_Privada_DRA.pdf

There will be a FAQ page posted on Havelock later this week addressing further questions and concerns.