Swiss financial regulator FINMA launches proceedings against Envion’s $100M ICO

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA has announced that it has begun enforcement proceedings against blockchain startup Envion AG for possible violation of financial market law in relation to an ICO.

The startup raised over $100 million in its month-long initial coin offering drive which saw participation from over 30,000 investors.

In its official release, the regulator said:

“FINMA has evidence that the company may have breached financial market law in relation to an ICO,” adding that it has launched enforcement proceedings against the company this month.

“The proceedings focus in particular on possible breaches of banking law resulting from the potentially unauthorised acceptance of public deposits in connection with the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) for the EVN token. Investigations carried out by FINMA to date indicate that, in the context of its ICO, envion AG accepted funds amounting to approximately one hundred million francs from more than 30,000 investors in return for issuing EVN tokens in a bond-like form.”

In February 2018, FINMA published its guidance on how it intends to apply financial market legislation in handling enquiries from ICO organizers.