FINLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Olli Kiuru, Mia Rintasalo and Essi Hietaoja, Waselius
10. Blockchain 10.1 Use of Blockchain in the Financial Services Industry The traditional players have not been eager to implement blockchain in their services/product offering. However, the fintech labs of some major players are investigating new opportunities with blockchain technologies. 10.2 Local Regulators’ Approach to Blockchain The local regulators have not been active in introducing regulation. 10.3 Classification of Blockchain Assets Under Finnish law, crypto-assets are classified in accordance with MiCAR. Blockchain-based assets are generally treated as crypto-assets that are either asset-referenced tokens (ARTs), electronic money tokens (EMTs) or crypto-assets other than ARTs or EMTs. Crypto-assets are not automatically categorised as financial instruments or securities; however, their classification depends on their specific characteristics. A blockchain asset may be deemed a financial instrument or security based on its nature, requiring a case-by-case analysis. This analysis considers that securities market legislation is technology-neutral. For example, the FIN-FSA uses a set of questions to evaluate whether a crypto-asset qualifies as a security. If crypto-assets are deemed financial instru - ments/securities, they fall outside the scope of MiCAR and are instead governed by other EU legislation applicable to financial instruments/ securities.
10.4 Regulation of “Issuers” of Blockchain Assets
The issue, public offer and seeking admission to trading of blockchain assets are subject to MiCAR. Issuing a crypto-asset means, in practice, creat - ing a new crypto-asset. Issuing ARTs and EMTs requires authorisation from the FIN-FSA. Fur - thermore, as EMTs are deemed to be electronic money, they may only be issued by authorised credit institutions or electronic money institu - tions. An issuer of ARTs and EMTs usually also acts as an offeror to the public or as a person seeking admission to trading, which requires publishing a crypto-asset white paper, namely an information document containing mandatory disclosures. However, offering to the public or seeking admission to trading of ARTs and EMTs does not require authorisation if the offeror or the person seeking admission to trading is a different person than the issuer. Offering to the public or seeking admission to trading of ARTs or EMTs on behalf of the issuer requires the writ - ten consent of the issuer. Regardless of such an arrangement, the issuer of the ART or EMT retains the obligation to draw up a crypto-asset white paper. Issuance, offering to the public or seeking admission to trading of crypto-assets other than ARTs and EMTs does not require authorisation. However, MiCAR contains some other require - ments for public offerors and persons seeking admission to trading of these crypto-assets. The main requirement is the obligation to draw up a crypto-asset white paper. As described in 10.3 Classification of Block - chain Assets , the regulation of initial sales depends on how the blockchain assets are clas - sified. When the issued crypto-asset qualifies
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