Leading Isle of Man-based corporate and pension service provider, Optimus Limited has welcomed the jurisdiction’s continued development as the fintech centre of choice for digital currencies, initial coin offerings (“ICOs”) and development of blockchain applications.
The Isle of Man has laws that capture virtual currencies, including crypto-currencies or similar concepts where the currency is accepted as a means of payment for goods or services, a unit of account or a store of value. These laws are subject to Counter Terrorism Financing (“CTF”) and Anti-Money Laundering (“AML”) oversight which includes requirements to comply with Know Your Customer (“KYC”) and beneficial ownership checks. The Isle of Man Government’s Department of Economic Development is seeing very high levels of interest which it attributes largely to this layer of governance which is not available elsewhere.
“A core objective of our commercial business lines at Optimus is to provide the most robust corporate and operational infrastructure possible for international entrepreneurs and it is extremely heartening when your government provides you with an appropriate regulatory infrastructure in which to do so.” Said Kerry Jones, Senior Manager at Optimus and responsible for leading Optimus’ FinTech operations, “We’ve had an eye on this space for a while, quietly building a portfolio of client relationships which are innovating in digital currency and distributed ledger technology. Now we have a regulatory stamp of quality that is second-to-none and I think this is a great opportunity to up the ante and grow our business in line with what many perceive as the most important fintech phenomenon around.”
Optimus’ principal service offering is providing the corporate entity and governance for blockchain-based businesses and, as Kerry points out, this is simply an extension of its tried and tested 15-year business model.
“For us it’s not a wholesale change of direction but a logical extension of what we’ve been doing for years,” continued Kerry, “the approach is simple: we provide business ventures with a legal structure and oversight and make sure that is operated efficiently and compliantly. The robust legal and regulatory system and zero corporate taxes of the Isle of Man complete the proposition. We have embraced fintech and its many strands as an area in which we can add significant value through our core business model”.
