Accepted funds from third parties are regarded as “public deposits” if they constitute liabilities owed to clients. In case of token offerings, accepting third-party public funds are generally not regarded as accepting public deposits requiring a banking license, because they are usually not associated with claims for repayment on the ICO organiser.
Exceptions:
- liabilities with debt capital character (e.g. promises to return capital with a guaranteed return) are treated as deposits
- stable coin offerings can give rise to licensing requirements under the Banking Act (Banking License)
Prominent banking license relaxations (even where the Banking Act applies):
- FinTech license (Banking License)
- Settlement accounts exemption (Banking License)
- Sandbox exemption (Banking License)
