On September 19, 2023, the preparatory group of the Taiwan Virtual Asset Platform and Transaction Business Enterprise (VASP) Association held its first regular meeting. The following is a summary of the key decisions made by Sangbi for readers. ( Full meeting minutes )
1. The "Preparatory Office" of the Taiwan Virtual Asset Platform and Transaction Business Enterprise (VASP) Association was renamed as the "Preparatory Group"
According to the Ministry of Interior’s national professional group application regulations, the preparatory office of the association has clear procedures and regulations for its establishment. In order to avoid confusion and understand the progress more accurately, the name was changed to the "Preparatory Group" of the Taiwan Virtual Asset Platform and Transaction Business Association (VASP) Association. It will be officially called the "Preparatory Office" after the necessary procedures are completed.
2. Blueprint of the association’s organizational structure
Although the current members of the preparatory group are mainly exchanges and clearing houses, the spirit of the association is to invite different types of virtual currency operators to join. Therefore, the convener also proposed a draft of the association’s organizational structure at this regular meeting to broadly integrate transactions Businesses other than exchange houses are also taken into consideration, as shown in Appendix 3, "Draft Organizational Structure of the VASP Association" for reference.
Note: The draft of the charter has not yet been finalized. Due to resource allocation issues, this draft will not be discussed for the time being, so it is called a blueprint. We will discuss it after the draft charter is released.
3. Principles for adding new members to the preparatory office team
The original intention of establishing the preparatory office group was to gather resources as quickly as possible and contribute to accelerating the establishment of the association. It was first composed of existing preparatory office group members.
In order to maintain work efficiency while allowing operators who are willing to contribute to join the preparatory group, relevant necessary qualifications were formulated at this regular meeting, and operators who meet the following seven necessary qualifications are open to apply to join:
- Completed Money Laundering Prevention Act Compliance Statement
- Comply with the nine guiding principles of the Financial Supervisory Commission
- Have your own operating platform
- Has a wallet custody mechanism
- Have a basic internal security team
- Have a sound internal legal and compliance team
- Have a bank interface with legal currency, and the legal currency is delivered to the trust
Note: The above seven necessary qualifications are only for joining the preparatory team and are not the conditions for joining the guild in the future.
Applications to join the preparatory group will be closed on the day the Ministry of Interior officially adds the "Virtual Currency Business" business group code and takes effect (expected to be mid-October based on previous information). Prior to this date, businesses that are willing to participate in the preparatory group and meet the seven necessary principles mentioned above can apply directly to the convener of the preparatory group.
4. Establish a "Legal Team Group" to draft the Association's Articles of Association, with the goal of formally establishing the Association before the end of the year
Referring to Appendix 1 "Process of Guild Preparation, Required Documents and Related Meeting Agenda", this meeting agreed to assemble the legal staff of the preparatory team and establish a "Legal Team Group" to prioritize the drafting of the Guild's Articles of Association and start preparations. Necessary documents include but are not limited to: list of sponsors, membership qualifications, seats of directors and supervisors, annual work plan, etc.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs announced on August 18 that a new category of "virtual currency business" will be added to the classification standards of business groups. This draft amendment will officially take effect two months after the notice period, which is about mid-October. The preparatory group has agreed to submit the application as soon as possible after it takes effect and submit it to the Ministry of the Interior for review. It is hoped that the Taiwan Virtual Asset Platform and Transaction Business Enterprise (VASP) Association will be formally established before the end of this year.
5. The preparatory group mainly adopts "consensus decision-making"
The members of the preparatory group all voluntarily contribute manpower, time and resources to jointly promote the establishment of the association. When making decisions, "consensus decision" is given priority. If there is a disagreement, a separate vote will be taken. The condition for the vote to be valid is "a simple majority of those present". One company has one vote, and a majority of the companies present must be present.
Complete attendance list for this meeting
Physical attendance (sorted by last name strokes) 14 people in total
- Yoyo Yoyo/Senior Director of the CEO Office of XREX Co., Ltd.
- Michael Wang Chenhuan / President of Ace Digital Innovation Co., Ltd. (ACE)
- Hiro Wang / CEO of Ace Digital Innovation Co., Ltd. (ACE)
- Li Jiaxing Jeff/Head of Legal Compliance of HOYA Digital Technology Co., Ltd. (HOYA BIT)
- He Guanlin/Senior Legal Affairs and Compliance Manager of Modern Wealth Technology Co., Ltd. (MaiCoin)
- Lin Yujie Una / Manager of Talent Operations Office of Bito Technology Co., Ltd. (BitoPro)
- Chen Ming Huiming / Chief Operating Officer of Modern Wealth Technology Co., Ltd. (MaiCoin)
- Chen Zengyi/Senior Legal Affairs and Legal Compliance Manager of Modern Wealth Technology Co., Ltd. (MaiCoin)
- Nick Zhang Linglan / Legal Compliance Director of XREX Co., Ltd.
- Zheng Guangtai CEO of Titan/BitoPro Technology Co., Ltd.
- Liu Yaofu Jeff / Special Assistant to the CEO of Bito Technology Co., Ltd. (BitoPro)
- Winston Xiao Huizong / Co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer of XREX Co., Ltd.
- Hillary Huanghui / Executive Secretary and Legal Staff of HOYA Digital Technology Co., Ltd. (HOYA BIT)
A total of 5 people attended the meeting online (sorted by last name strokes)
- Li Yifang Eliza / Woo Network Legal Affairs
- Ye Yuanrong Asta / After all Technology Co., Ltd. (BITGIN) Legal Affairs
- Jim Hsieh / Special Assistant to the CEO of HOYA Digital Technology Co., Ltd. (HOYA BIT)
- Emily Lai Yongchun / CEO of Rybit Co., Ltd.
- Andy Xiao Boren / Business Development of XREX Co., Ltd.
Attachment 2: VASP Guild Formation Schedule Description
Attachment 3: Draft organizational structure of the VASP Association
