Blockstation Builds Disclosure Tool for Security Token Issuers on Jamaica Stock Exchange

Blockstation, a Canadian digital asset trading systems firm, has built a fast-track disclosure filing process for companies hoping to list security tokens on the Jamaican Stock Exchange (JSE).

Announced Tuesday alongside JSE’s launch of a tokenized Initial Public Offering (IPO) platform, Blockstation’s new tool, called the Smart Listing Accelerator Process (SLAP), is designed to streamline the filing of required regulatory disclosures and prospectuses, said CTO and co-founder Jai Waterman.

Waterman said SLAP “lowers the barrier to entry” for companies that want security token offerings (STOs) but do not know how to sift through the corresponding paperwork.

The companies may not realize how many disclosure requirements the JSE – and its regulator, the Financial Services Commission – have to inform the public about an investment’s risks.

“Full disclosure needs to be there in order to make sure that these investors know what they’re getting in to, and that they’re protected,” said Waterman.

Every potential risk has to be laid out in the company’s prospectus. SLAP helps companies do so with a veritable “library” of business risk factors – far more than any one capital-seeking company could guess to include, according to Waterman.

“There’s hundreds of risks that people are not necessarily thinking of,” he said. “When you see that huge library, you're like, ‘oh you know what, that kind of applies to us.’ So you can take that concept and make it specific to your business.”

Building out their filings on SLAP, companies can tailor their prospectus and have a lawyer review the result. Once the filings are finished the companies can submit directly to JSE and FSC.

Four companies have already begun the regulatory filing process with SLAP, Waterman said.

The new service is the latest advancement in JSE and Blockstation’s digital asset partnership. Since joining forces in August 2018, the pair have developed and launched a cryptocurrency trading platform. They announced their plan to list security tokens in early 2019.