STADLER VÖLKEL Rechtsanwälte GmbH

Stadler Völkel Attorneys at Law advise Fashion TV on Initial Coin Offering subject to Austrian laws

4 March 2018
Stadler Völkel Attorneys at Law advise Fashion TV on Initial Coin Offering subject to Austrian laws

Stadler Völkel Attorneys at Law advise the international corporate group around Fashion TV in connection with an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) subject to Austrian law.

Fashion TV

The Fashion TV group operates one of the world's most widespread television channels with a reach of more than 500 million viewers. Fashion TV is dedicated to the world of international fashion and lifestyle. The TV program was founded in Paris and was first aired in 1997. The Fashion TV group has offices in Paris, London and Vienna, the technical broadcast is controlled in Israel. Fashion TV broadcasts in English language on topics such as fashion, models and designers, as well as fashion shows and show reports from all over the world. Fashion TV's channel can be viewed via satellite as well as through the FTV+ streaming platform. In addition, the group produces and sells various luxury goods, including furniture and home accessories, cosmetics, clothes and other fashion items, and operates bars, cafes, clubs and hotels.

Stadler Völkel on the ICO

Oliver Völkel, Partner at Stadler Völkel Attorneys at Law, has structured the transaction: "Initial Coin Offerings are becoming an established form of alternative corporate financing as the example of the Fashion TV ICO shows. The coins issued in the ICO serve as a kind of corporate currency which customers and business partners can use as a payment method for the services of Fashion TV. The company will initially accept the coin at a fixed price, and as soon as a liquid market develops for the coin, it can be redeemed at the current market value. Once again this project proves that Austria is the first choice when it comes to financings through Initial Coin Offerings in the European Union. ", says Oliver Völkel.

"We are very pleased to support Fashion TV with its first ICO under Austrian law. This project serves as an example of our expertise as a highly specialized partner for ICO consultancy." says Arthur Stadler, partner at Stadler Völkel Attorneys at Law.

What is an Initial Coin Offering?

The terms Initial Coin Offering or Initial Token Offering comprise various forms of corporate financing. Common to all forms is that a coin or token is issued as a new cryptocurrency based on the blockchain technology. In an ICO, a company offers its coins or tokens for sale or exchange for other cryptocurrencies. Depending on how the coins or tokens are structured, this may involve the issuance of securities or investments, or the sale of digital assets. Depending on this, the issuing companies have to follow a different legal framework. As a rule, participants in an ICO have no right to a dividend, interest or repayment of their investment. Investors usually participate in an ICO because they expect a general increase in the price of the issued coins or tokens. An overview of different ICO models can be found here (German only).

Details of the Fashion TV ICO

In the Initial Coin Offering, the Austrian company FTV Media GmbH will issue up to 1.5 billion 'FTV Coins Deluxe'. One portion of the coins will to be issued in the pre-sale from 5 March 2018 until 15 April 2018, another portion of the coins in the subsequent sale from 16 April 2018 to 30 June 2018. The issue price per coin in the pre-sale ranges between 15 and 18 Euro cents, in the subsequent main sale the issue price increases over the course of the ICO from initially 18 Euro cents in April to 24 Euro cents in June. Details of the terms and conditions of the offer can be found on the website of the Issuer at www.fashiontv.com/ico.

Fashion TV's coins are ERC20 tokens based on the Ethereum blockchain. The coins can be used by their owners as corporate currency for various Fashion TV products. On the one hand, these are the classic services of the corporate group such as TV, streaming and video on demand services of private fashion channels. In addition, Fashion TV wants to offer the blockchain community its own platform for luxury goods and services, and aims at bringing the blockchain technology closer to the fashion community. To this end, Fashion TV is developing a blockchain-based solution to ensure that models and other industry employees are paid fairly by agencies.

Stadler Völkel Attorneys at Law

Stadler Völkel Attorneys at Law (<sv.law>) specialize in the law of blockchain and virtual currencies. The firm has successfully supported several initial coin offerings in the past and regularly advises Austrian and international companies and banks on legal issues related to cryptocurrencies. The firm seeks to be a pioneer in establishing new technologies and is committed to increasing the acceptance of cryptocurrencies and their underlying blockchain technology. The law firm organizes regular events on these topics (videos on YouTube) and has contributed to the development of the Blockchain Roadmap of the Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy (Link). In addition, the law firm is teaching a course on cryptocurrencies and blockchain at the University of Vienna.

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