SEC Commends Coins.ph, PDAX, for Going Out of Their Way to Engage With Regulators
Nichel Gaba: Is it easier for us to operate while being unregulated? Of course. But is it responsible? We need to be held accountable. We make mistakes.
By Shiela Bertillo
Commissioner Kelvin Lee of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) commended financial entities such as Coins.ph, a mobile wallet and cryptocurrency trading platform, and Philippine Digital Asset Exchange (PDAX), a cryptocurrency exchange platform, for “going out of their way to engage with the regulators,” he said during the panel discussion in the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) Cryptocurrency 101 livestream.
Priorly, Coins.ph Head of Products and Crypto Eprom Galang and PDAX CEO Nichel Gaba answered queries regarding their companies being regulated.
“As long as we are always collaborative with the regulators and the regulators actually encourage responsible innovation, this will be very beneficial for us. As a regulated company, we always make sure that we adhere to our responsibilities and the scope given to us by the BSP. So every time we release a new token or a new product, our customers can be guaranteed that we abide by the best practices. We make sure that we consider consumer protection, data privacy and cybersecurity,” Galang stated.
Gaba acknowledged Galang’s words and said that “it is the time for industry players to be collaborative.”
“Mas madali ba na magoperate kami na unregulated? Syempre.” he confirmed.
Translation: Is it easier for us to operate while being unregulated? Of course.
He noted that without regulation they won’t have to go through BSP audit, put up capital requirements and other unchecked deeds. They could also irresponsibly post as many ads as they want and just promote all the tokens.
“But is it responsible? Yung answer doon is hindi because as a platform na kailangan pagkatiwalaan ng public we also need to be held accountable. We make mistakes. By being regulated or licensed, it means we have to abide by everything the BSP and SEC require of us.” Gaba added.
Translation:The answer for that is no because as a platform that needs the trust of the public we also need to be held accountable.
He also stressed that, “in the long run, everyone benefits if the platforms are regulated.”
Once the SEC rules on digital assets, Commissioner Lee, also hopes that Coins.ph, PDAX and other financial technology firms can also register on their side once the licensing process is open.
Accordingly, Melchor Plabasan, BSP Director of technology risk and innovation supervision department, reiterated that the advantage of dealing only with regulated and licensed entities is that one can uphold their consumer rights.
Atty. JJ Disini, managing partner at Disini Law, emphasized that the reason why licensing works is accountability.
“Everybody who gets a license to operate, whether its PDAX or Coins.ph, these are actual people stepping forward saying ‘I am the investor here, I am the one responsible. And I am willing to submit to the government regulation, to the rules and if something goes wrong, I am accountable.’ That is a very important thing to remember.” he stated.
Commissioner Lee said on Tuesday that the Securities Commission looks forward to publishing their rules on digital assets as early as December this year.
“That is something I encourage everyone to look forward to,” Lee commented.
This article is published on BitPinas: SEC Rules on Cryptocurrency and Licensing May Come Out December
