HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--IOI Capital and Markets, LLC (IOICM), an SEC registered broker-dealer and a wholly owned subsidiary of iownit capital and markets, Inc. today announced that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) has approved its membership application. This approval allows IOICM to be a placement agent for digital private securities issued on the blockchain-based platform developed and operated by its parent company.
The platform, accessible through its iownit.us website, has been in development since July 2017. Co-founders Rashad Kurbanov and Hamid Gayibov launched the development of iownit.us with the goal of bringing the latest technology to private securities markets and modernizing this large segment of the financial services industry.
Private securities, also known as exempt offerings, play an important role in capital formation and expand investment opportunities for investors. These securities encompass a wide range of financial instruments and issuers, from early stage companies to large pooled investment vehicles. According to the SEC data, exempt offerings have accounted for significantly larger amounts of new capital formation compared to registered offerings in the past 10 years.1 Despite its size and importance, the private securities market lacks a modern technology infrastructure that can facilitate efficient allocation of capital, secure digital ownership records, asset lifecycle management, portfolio management and secondary trading.
IOICM CEO Rashad Kurbanov said: “Our platform has been built from the ground up over the past two years to completely digitize the securities issuance, asset lifecycle management and secondary trading processes to create a more efficient market. It is targeted for institutional and accredited investors only, providing tools to facilitate a seamless investment process, information sharing and ongoing portfolio management. We believe our platform will reduce friction in the market and reduce costs for all market participants, while importantly providing appropriate investor protections.”
Unlike many other implementations of blockchain technology that focus on cryptocurrencies and tokens, iownit.us is built on a permissioned, private blockchain that leverages the immutable and secure elements of distributed ledger technology, while providing security and complete privacy to issuers and investors. It is purpose-built to allow issuance of private securities such as equities, debt or other financial instruments in compliance with all applicable federal and state regulations while providing a broad range of functionalities to investors, issuers and financial services intermediaries.
Mr. Kurbanov added, “Blockchain, or distributed ledger technology, offers exciting new opportunities for the financial services industry and we are in the early stages of this evolution. As any new technology being introduced in financial markets, blockchain had to be thoroughly evaluated by the regulators to ensure its application in compliance with regulations that made the U.S. capital markets envy of the world. We spent a significant amount of time with FINRA and SEC staff on productive discussions working through the use of distributed ledger technology and how it can be implemented to provide a convenient yet secure platform. We are very grateful to the Staff for their patience, input and diligence throughout our membership application process. We are not here to ‘revolutionize’ investing, but we do intend to make it vastly more modern and less complicated for both issuers and investors to engage and transact.”
About iownit.us (@iownitus):
Focused on capital formation for private companies, iownit.us provides the pipes that help to make investment transactions go efficiently for investors into privately held companies. IOI Capital and Markets, LLC (iownit.us) is a wholly owned subsidiary of iownit Capital and Markets, Inc. For more information about iownit.us, please visit our website iownit.us.
IOI Capital and Markets, LLC (“IOICM"), is a FINRA member broker-dealer. IOICM does not provide investment advice, endorse, analyze or recommend any securities. All securities listed on our platform are offered by, and all information included on this site is the responsibility of, the issuer of such securities. All brokerage-related activity is conducted by IOICM. IOICM makes no communication that is to be construed as a recommendation for any security offered on this investment platform. Investments in private placements, and start-up investments in particular, are speculative and involve a high degree of risk. Those investors who cannot afford to lose their entire investment should not invest in start-ups. Companies seeking startup investments through private equity issuance tend to be in earlier stages of development and their business model, products and services may not yet be fully developed, operational or tested in the public marketplace. Approval of a FINRA Membership Application should neither be construed as an endorsement of the firm, nor confirm the ethical nature of a firm’s practices. FINRA membership means the firm is authorized to conduct securities business. IOICM may also be referred to as “Iownit.us” in marketing material.
1Figure 1, https://www.sec.gov/rules/concept/2019/33-10649.pdf
