Today the digital assets subsidiary of Japan’s Nomura, Laser Digital, announced it received an in-principle license from the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). Once it fulfils various conditions it will receive a license as a broker-dealer and asset/fund manager for cryptocurrencies and traditional assets.
In August, Laser received a license from the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA), based in one of the UAE’s other emirates, Dubai. Laser Digital has offices in the UAE in addition to London and its Swiss headquarters.
“Laser is developing investment services in virtual assets that are both dynamic and transparent, and their investment offerings align well with ADGM and the FSRA’s international best practices and progressive regulatory ecosystem,” said Arvind Ramamurthy, Chief of Market Development at ADGM. “We welcome them to our robust and vibrant financial community.”
Laser Digital has a three pronged strategy. It houses Nomura’s venture capital investments for digital assets and recently announced several deals. Last week it launched the asset management arm with its institutional Bitcoin Adoption Fund. And it is gearing up to go live with digital assets trading. Hence the need for the broker-dealer license.
Long before Nomura launched Laser Digital last year, it was one of the co-founders of the Komainu digital asset custody firm, which it formed in 2018. Komainu has a license from VARA.
In fact the UAE offers five different regulatory regimes for cryptocurrencies, including the ADGM and VARA. These were recently compared by lawyers White & Case.
