South Korean Lighting Company CTL Edging Closer to Singapore ICO

South Korean lighting and electrical components manufacturer CTL has created a Singapore-based subsidy as it prepares to launch an ICO in the country. South Korean media outlet Maeil Business Newspaper says the new company, called Visual Identity, will work with RHTLaw Taylor Wessing, one of Singapore’s biggest law firms, to lay the legal framework for CTL’s ICO.

The token, named BitGcoin, is based on the ERC20 Ethereum standard.

Maeil quotes a CTL spokesperson as saying, “Singapore complies with the regulations and requirements of both ICOs and exchanges. It is one of the countries where companies can freely operate cryptocurrency-related businesses within a clear regulatory framework.”

CTL also plans to launch a Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange platform. Early this year, it established a joint-venture funding subsidiary in conjunction with LivePlex, a luxury tent-maker and gaming company for its cryptocurrency endeavors. CTL says it also hopes to launch a domestic exchange platform.

ICOs were banned in South Korea last year, although there have been suggestions that the government will look to reverse its decision.

South Korean IT policy has always seen the government back tech companies to the hilt, encouraging them to focus first and foremost on domestic markets and local channels. IT represents 33% of the country’s export economy (and Korea’s export economy is the world’s seventh biggest), and fintech is seen as a powerful growth engine by all parties, not least the current government. Forcing local business to take their trade overseas goes against the grain for Seoul.