Corporate governance challenges in initial coin offerings
Publication Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
8-2021
Abstract
Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) have become an important fundraising method for firms. While most regulators, academics and policymakers have focused their attention on whether and, if so, when ICOs are subject to securities laws, they have overlooked other legal issues involved in an ICO. This article seeks to partially fill this gap by analysing the corporate governance challenges of ICOs. Namely, it will explore the exacerbated agency problems existing between the issuers and buyers of tokens, and why traditional corporate governance mechanisms fail to protect tokenholders. Based on a functional and comparative analysis of ICOs, with particular emphasis on the regulatory responses generally provided in Asia, Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States, this chapter highlights the corporate governance problems arising in ICOs. It also suggests various policy recommendations to improve the attractiveness of ICOs as a fundraising method while reducing the risk of opportunism of promoters vis-à-vis tokenholders.
Discipline
Business Organizations Law | Science and Technology Law
Research Areas
Innovation, Technology and the Law; Corporate, Finance and Securities Law
Publication
Technology and corporate law: How innovation shapes corporate activity
Editor
GODWIN, Andrew; LANGFORD, Rosemary; LEE, Pey Woan
First Page
205
Last Page
226
ISBN
9781800377158
Identifier
10.4337/9781800377165.00018
Publisher
Edward Elgar Publishing
Citation
REMOLINA LEON, Nydia and Aurelio GURREA-MARTINEZ.
Corporate governance challenges in initial coin offerings. (2021). Technology and corporate law: How innovation shapes corporate activity. 205-226.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/4643
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800377165.00018
