GDPR and Your Verification Solutions: Ensuring Compliance and Data Security The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has significant implications for how financial and legal service providers handle personal data during client onboarding. While KYC/AML...
iComply Announces Security Token Patent and Prefacto Licensing Program
US Patent grants iComply exclusive rights to a pivotal security feature for tokenized assets and announces Prefacto™ licensing program
VANCOUVER, B.C. – September 14, 2023 – iComply, a global compliance technology provider, is pleased to announce a new licensing program for US patent US-20220103378-A1 System and Method for Off-chain Cryptographic Transaction Verification, an essential technology that ensures transactional compliance for financial institutions using blockchain.
Filed on July 18, 2018, this patent was the first to cover the key technology behind the industry’s issuance and trading of regulatory compliant security tokens, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and stablecoins.
Since 2018, the security token market has seen explosive growth, boasting a current value of over US $17B. Leading consulting firm Security Token Advisors CEO Herwig Konings believes “that capital markets will move towards a natively-blockchain based asset and securities life cycle and use tokenized assets to reinvent the customer experience and back office administration.” Experts from premier global financial institutions project that by 2030, US $30T worth of tokenized assets will be in circulation, a staggering CAGR of 410%.
“The scale at which the industry has already adopted Prefacto™ IP is exciting,” states iComply CEO Matthew Unger. “We are not only enhancing the standards of digital finance concerning security and liquidity but also streamlining blockchain transactions across diverse providers.”
Bridging Traditional Compliance with Blockchain Innovation
Today, consumers benefit from seemingly instantaneous authorization of credit card payments at millions of merchants globally. However, unseen complex processes behind each transaction often take several days to settle, particularly where existing traditional systems require a funds transfer between the customer’s bank and the merchant’s bank.
Prefacto™ leverages foundational blockchain technologies including whitelisting and transaction validators to enable instant settlement of transactions globally. Spearheading the program Peter Nieforth, SVP Licensing, states, “Prefacto™ dramatically reduces the operational costs of ensuring compliance, trust, and integrity in global financial transactions.”
The Future of Financial Transactions
iComply was founded with a vision to power trustworthy transactions for billions of people. The latest Prefacto™ patents and newly launched licensing program are key milestones in the company’s journey, creating the foundation for financial institutions, tokenization platforms, and trading facilities worldwide to join them on this mission.
About iComply:
iComply Investor Services Inc. has been pioneering compliance technology since 2017 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. Using artificial intelligence, blockchain, and edge computing, iComply’s Prefacto™ and iComplyKYC™ solutions are set to redefine the sector, enabling organizations to harness opportunities offered by digital transformation—without compromising compliance, privacy, or scalability. Learn more: www.icomplyis.com
Digital Securities: Benefits & Use Cases – Free Resource
Digital Securities: Benefits & Use Cases – Free Resource
Blockchain technology is becoming ubiquitous in today’s world–including the world of traditional finance. Global personal wealth surpassed US$200 trillion in 2017, and it’s expected to grow by 7% (CAGR) every year until 2022.
In such a widening pool of available capital, the B2B finance and private markets are ripe for investors to capitalize on new opportunities and for financial institutions to leverage new innovations for wealth management.
This September, iComply Investor Services Inc. released a new report, Tokenization: Benefits & Use Cases, a comprehensive overview of the Tokenization use cases that exist for digital asset in the traditional financial markets today.
From shareholder equity and corporate bonds to real estate and physical commodities, tokenization of traditional and complex investment products is already happening.
Covering such basics as “What is the legal status of a smart contract?” and “What is a token?”, this resource can help you gain a foundational understanding of this rapidly emerging trend in global private markets.
Blockchain technology is empowering the global financial markets to capitalize on digital investment opportunities–and can be harnessed in your own company.
Explore 6 Major Tokenization Case Studies
Learn how tokenization is being used today, and the potential benefits it can add to your company’s bottom line. You would not want to be without this resource on blockchain for regulated asset management.
Contact us at [email protected] and a member of our team will reach out to explain how tokenization can work for you.
iComply Investor Services (iComply) is an industry leading and award winning Regtech (regulatory technology) company specializing in compliance automation for digital finance. Our suite of enterprise solutions helps companies overcome the cost and complexity of multi-jurisdictional compliance to effectively access new markets and opportunities.
iComply MasterClass: Understanding and Mitigating Risks in Crypto
In this upcoming MasterClass hosted by iComply, BitAML’s Founder Joe Ciccolo and Coinstructive’s CEO Chris Groshong join iComply’s Head of Product Strategy Greg Pinn to discuss the importance of understanding and mitigating your company’s risk in crypto compliance and AML screening.
Compliance tends to be one of the larger knowledge gaps for modern business management; closing this gap is not only essential to the success of your business, it’s also the law. Our expert panel will discuss the areas of risk that your business could be subject to and the challenges associated with non-face-to-face transactions. Find out what can be done to mitigate these risks, and learn why regulators will no longer buy ignorance as an excuse for non-compliance.
Save Your Spot: Registration Limited to the First 100 People
Date: Tuesday, February 5th
Time: 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM (Pacific Standard Time)
Key Learnings:
In this MasterClass, the panel will break down the existing risks surrounding digital transactions and what steps you can take to mitigate these risks in order to protect your company and your investors.
About Greg Pinn — Head of Product Strategy, iComply
Formerly the head of World-Check (Thomson Reuters’ most profitable company), Greg Pinn led product strategy for almost ten years—both before and after its $560-million acquisition by Thomson Reuters. World-Check is described as the “cornerstone of the Thomson Reuters risk business” and is the #1 compliance software for KYC, AML, ATF at Tier 1 and central banks globally. Greg’s experience in risk, governance and compliance analysis, product strategy, and leadership of large global development and sales teams were critical to World-Check’s success and now support him in his role to ensure iComply’s brand delivers confidence, trust, and security to all stakeholders.
About Joe Ciccolo — Founder, BitAML
Before founding BitAML, Joe Ciccolo spent over a decade in high-impact roles with leading institutions such as State Farm and Citizens Financial Group. He was a founding member and architect of a Bank Secrecy Act / Anti-Money Laundering program for one of the top 100 online financial institutions in the U.S., and worked as a project manager for a top-20 international bank, managing regulatory and AML audit remediation projects. His additional leadership experience includes risk management, vendor due diligence, fraud prevention, and corporate investigations. Joe regularly consults with bankers regarding the onboarding of Bitcoin customers, as well as complex cryptocurrency-related investigations involving federal and local law enforcement. He is a frequent speaker at cryptocurrency, payments, and compliance industry events and volunteers his time at the non-profit organization Blockchain Education Network.
About Chris Groshong — President & CEO, CoinStructive
As President of CoinStructive, a Bitcoin & Blockchain consulting firm in San Diego, Chris Groshong has developed a nationwide team that is furthering the development of cryptocurrency and blockchain adoption. With a focus on clarity, CoinStructive provides an obstacle-free transition for businesses and enterprises who are interested in using cryptocurrencies or blockchain tech as part of their business strategy. They are solutions architects and problem solvers and help fill the gaps in your business model. CoinStructive’s fundamental goal is not only to help organizations reach theirs but also to do so in a way that empowers founders, boards and entrepreneurs to make educated, well-informed, and confident business decisions.
About iComply Investor Services Inc.
iComply Investor Services Inc. (iComply) is an award-winning software company focused on reducing regulatory friction in the capital markets. With powerful data, verification, tokenization solutions, iComply helps companies overcome the cost and complexity of multi-jurisdictional compliance to effectively access new markets. Learn more: iComplyIS.com
GDPR and Your Verification Solutions: Ensuring Compliance and Data Security
Ensuring Data Privacy in KYC Compliance: Key Steps and Best Practices
Data privacy compliance is a critical aspect of operating in today's digital landscape. Protecting personal data and adhering to regulatory requirements helps build trust with customers and avoid legal repercussions. Implementing...
Understanding the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for Business Compliance
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a comprehensive data protection law that impacts businesses operating within the European Union (EU) and those handling EU citizens' data. Ensuring compliance with GDPR is crucial...
iComply Releases OFAC Screening For 6 Major Cryptocurrencies
iComply Offers OFAC Screening for Sanctioned Bitcoin and Crypto Addresses
On November 28, 2018, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added its first bitcoin addresses to its public list of sanctioned individuals and entities. iComply is capable of screening these addresses to ensure compliance for decentralized finance and assets
Vancouver, B.C. – November 29, 2018 – iComply Investor Services (“iComply”), a leading RegTech platform for global digital finance and cryptocurrencies offers comprehensive blockchain forensic screening to address risks related to blockchain addresses, including sanctions screening, fraud, theft, and cyber-security.
On November 28, 2018, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added multiple Iranians and their bitcoin addresses to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN List) for laundering the bitcoin proceeds from the infamous SamSam ransomware scheme. This is the first instance of OFAC adding a cryptocurrency address to their public list of sanctioned individuals and entities.
“Agencies such as OFAC protect the integrity of financial markets, warning companies about individuals or companies that may pose a risk to their business. We developed our RegTech software, iComply, to make it possible to screen for these kinds of threats in both centralized and decentralized finance to address the unique risks when financial assets are traded using public blockchains. Currently, our solution supports Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Litecoin, Dash and Bitcoin Cash,” said Qayyum Rajan, Chief Data Officer, of iComply Investor Services Inc.
iComply’s solution addresses risks related to blockchain addresses and the trading of financial assets using public blockchains, this is an integral process that is complementary to traditional AML/KYC for fiat. Institutions can query addresses to achieve financial grade compliance around the individuals and entities that it transacts with.
“As blockchain is increasingly used for mainstream finance, it is integral to enforce regulatory compliance not just for the individual and entity but also for the transactions themselves,’ added Rajan. “While there has been a lot of talk about the Howey test to determine whether a token is subject to securities laws, institutions such as OFAC are now also enforcing criminal liabilities once these assets are trading.”
-##-
Looking for financial grade KYC and AML in an enterprise ready API?
iComply offers global screening for humans, corporations, and blockchain transactions in a single REST API.
Book a demo with one of our specialists to learn more.
About iComply Investor Services Inc.
iComply Investor Services Inc. (iComply) is an award-winning software company focused on reducing regulatory friction in the capital markets. With powerful data, verification, tokenization solutions, iComply helps companies overcome the cost and complexity of multi-jurisdictional compliance to effectively access new markets. Learn more: iComplyIS.com
Advanced KYC Technologies: Enhancing Security with AI and Blockchain
iComply Announces Security Token Patent and Prefacto Licensing Program
iComply, a global compliance technology provider, is pleased to announce a new licensing program for an essential technology that ensures transactional compliance for financial institutions using blockchain.
Digital Securities: Benefits & Use Cases – Free Resource
Blockchain technology is becoming ubiquitous in today's world–including the world of traditional finance. Global personal wealth surpassed US$200 trillion in 2017, and it's expected to grow by 7% (CAGR) every year until 2022. In such a widening pool of available...
New University Research: The Compliance Trilemma
A research team from the University of British Columbia (UBC) conducted more than 45 interviews and dozens of observations from industry experts to explore the past, present, and expectations for the future of token issuers from diverse perspectives.
iComply Investor Services commissioned a study to better understand the challenges that token issuers face to meet the regulatory standards for issuing and tracking digital assets. Currently, these projects face significant barriers that result in trade-offs that hinder the true potential of blockchain managed assets. The research collaboration was supported by Mitacs’s Accelerate Program.
The Findings:
The use of blockchain technology allows token issuers to efficiently gain access to global customers, partners, and capital.
Key Challenge: The burden of the cost of regulation
Challenges broadly stem from the cost of complying with regulation. In 2017 there was significant ambiguity surrounding whether and how digital assets were regulated, and many issuers neglected this dimension altogether. While a large number of issuers were well-intentioned, others could not resist exploiting the prospect of unlimited access to global investors. Early offerings could often raise more with savvy marketing than a well-reasoned project plan, and a large number of early token offerings were little more than Ponzi schemes. Today, regulatory clarity and enforcement are essential if tokenized securities are to become a safe and legitimate fundraising mechanism.
The study found that issuers currently face a compliance trilemma, whereby they can realize only two of the following three goals in their token offerings:
- Cost-effectiveness
- Widely distributed investors
- Regulatory compliance
While we focus here on ICOs, the compliance trilemma also holds more generally for other decentralized finance practices involving cryptoassets including ICOs, STOs, TGEs, and IEOs.
To date, issuers have adopted various approaches to address the trilemma:
- Sacrificing compliance by directly defying regulators and hoping to fly under the radar
- sacrificing the scope of investment by restricting token sales to a limited group of investors
- Compromising on all three dimensions in a hybrid approach
- Forgoing a token offering entirely until this becomes more cost-effective
However, each of these current approaches is sub-optimal, and a solution is needed to the compliance trilemma.
The study also explored how industry experts expected the compliance trilemma to be resolved and found that the majority tended to advocate new regulatory rules and definitions that could relax what they see as the “burden” of compliance on issuers. Such an approach places the onus squarely on regulators, who would need to coordinate within and across jurisdictions to reach a coherent regulatory framework that appeases the challenges and costs of compliance for issuers. However, we argue that holding regulators solely accountable for the compliance trilemma is incomplete and misguided, and that other approaches are needed to reduce the costs and uncertainties of regulatory compliance.
Read the research by downloading the report here
About iComply Investor Services Inc.
iComply Investor Services Inc. (iComply) is an award-winning software company focused on reducing regulatory friction in the capital markets. With powerful data, verification, tokenization solutions, iComply helps companies overcome the cost and complexity of multi-jurisdictional compliance to effectively access new markets. Learn more: iComplyIS.com
GDPR and Your Verification Solutions: Ensuring Compliance and Data Security
GDPR and Your Verification Solutions: Ensuring Compliance and Data Security The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has significant implications for how financial and legal service providers handle personal data during client onboarding. While KYC/AML...
Ensuring Data Privacy in KYC Compliance: Key Steps and Best Practices
Data privacy compliance is a critical aspect of operating in today's digital landscape. Protecting personal data and adhering to regulatory requirements helps build trust with customers and avoid legal repercussions. Implementing...
Understanding the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for Business Compliance
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a comprehensive data protection law that impacts businesses operating within the European Union (EU) and those handling EU citizens' data. Ensuring compliance with GDPR is crucial...