Securitize announced on December 17 that it has been approved by the Spanish National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) as an investment company. The company has also registered Securitize Europe Brokerage and Markets, SA to operate as a Sociedad de Valores (broker-dealer).
The company hopes to provide services for blockchain-based financial assets, including acting as an ERIR. The investment firm revealed that it can now tokenize, manage and facilitate the lifecycle of cryptocurrencies in Europe.
CNMV License Opens Up Blockchain-Based Investment Opportunities
📢 Securitize is pleased to announce that it has been approved by the Spanish National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) as an investment company, and that Securitize Europe Brokerage and Markets, SA has been registered to operate as a Sociedad de Valores (broker dealer).
This achievement allows us to… pic.twitter.com/syTivDs44C
— Securitize (@Securitize) December 17, 2024
The company stressed that the CNMV’s approval highlights the integration of blockchain technology into traditional financial systems under Spain’s progressive legal structure. The tech company also certified its compliance with Spain’s Securities Market Law (Ley del Mercado de Valores) and alignment with EU regulations such as MiFID II.
The investment firm indicated that it may offer investment services such as tokenization of financial instruments. It also said it hopes to operate a DLT trading and settlement system, which is awaiting approval under the pilot regulation. Apart from operating as an ERIR, the firm said it can offer all of these services within a regulated environment that ensures strong investor protection and operational transparency.
“Our approval as an investment firm and specifically the ability to operate as an ERIR firm in Spain is an important milestone for Securitize.”
– Carlos Domingo, Co-Founder and CEO of Securitize.
Domingo also revealed that the approval will enable the company to tokenize, manage and facilitate the lifecycle of digital securities in Europe. The CEO hopes that the approval will create new opportunities for issuers to raise capital. He also believes that investors will be able to access innovative investment opportunities powered by blockchain technology within a single, regulatory-compliant platform.
The company revealed that it has become the first platform to issue digital asset securities in both the United States and Europe. Securitize announced on July 23, 2023 that it has begun issuing tokenized securities in Europe.
Domingo also acknowledged that the company is the first to be able to issue and trade tokenized securities in both the United States and Europe. He added that the company is the first to do so under the European Union’s Digital Assets Pilot Regime. The company has been allowed to continue issuing, managing and trading tokenized securities in Spain and the wider European Union.
The CEO also acknowledged that European companies will have a new way to raise capital by raising initial capital and obtaining tax benefits and liquidity through secondary trading.
In October 2022, the company partnered with asset management firm Hamilton Lane to boost investor exposure by offering tokenized securities. This proves that what we have in the US is also possible in Europe, said Amparo Garcia Flores, CEO of Securitize Europe Brokerage and Markets.
Flores also highlighted the importance of opening up its markets on both sides of the Atlantic. She said it effectively doubled the size of the firm and the opportunities available to bond issuers in Europe who previously had different opportunities than their US counterparts.
The company has been authorized to issue digital asset securities to a select group of companies and investors under the supervision of the Spanish General Secretariat of the Treasury and International Finance.
The investment firm provides a range of services in the United States, including issuance, dividend distribution, capital raising, redemption, shareholder meetings, and facilitation of trading of securities in the secondary market.