 From Toronto, Canada, it's theCUBE. Covering Blockchain Futurist Conference 2018. Brought to you by theCUBE. Hello everyone, welcome back to the live CUBE coverage here in Toronto, Ontario, here in Canada for the untraceable Blockchain Futurist Conference's day two of wall-to-wall CUBE coverage. We've got a great presentation that's going on, live content here in theCUBE, as well as in the session, great networking. The more important, all the thought leaders in the industry around the world are coming together to try to set the standards and set up a great future for cryptocurrency and Blockchain in general. Our next two guests, our very special guests for theCUBE, we're excited to have them on. The Honorable Wayne Keynes, Minister of National Security for the Government of Bermuda and Kevin Richards. Concierge on the Fintech Business Development Manager, part of the business, Bermuda Business Development Agency. Thank you guys for coming on. Really appreciate the time. Thank you for having us. Why this is so important is that, we heard your presentation on stage for the folks who could catch it online when they film it and record it, but the Bermuda opportunity has really emerged as a shining light around the world, specifically in the United States, in California, where I live, Silicon Valley. You guys are now having great progress in hosting companies and being crypto-friendly. Take a minute to explain what's happening, what's the current situation, why Bermuda, why now, what's developing. This has all happened over the last eight months. We were looking in November of 2017 to go into space. In January, we went to the World Economic Forum in Davos in Switzerland. When we went to Davos in Switzerland, something very interesting happened. People kept coming up to us. I was like the hound of the basketball or the piper, if you please. And so, so many people coming up to us, finding out more information about Bermuda. We realized that our plan that we thought we could phase in over 18 months, that it had to be accelerated. So whilst we were at the World Economic Forum in Davos, we said to people, listen, if you want to change the world, if you want to help Bermuda to grow, if you're serious, this is the Thursday, meet us in Bermuda on the Monday morning. On the Monday morning, there are 14 different people in the room. We sat in the room, we talked about what we wanted the world to be, how could Bermuda be in place, what are the needs in this industry. And by the Wednesday, we had a complete and total framework. And so, we split up into some industries. Number one was ICOs. We wanted to look at how to regulate the ICO market. Number two, we wanted to look at digital asset exchanges or cryptocurrencies, or how do we regulate security tokens and utility tokens, and what do exchanges look like? How do we do exchanges in Bermuda? And then we wanted to talk about education instead of setting up incubators. And so, come fast forward to July, August, we have an ICO bill in place that allows us to look at setting up ICOs in Bermuda. We wanted to focus on the legal and the regulatory framework. So, this is a nasi in space. Number of people are concerned about the dark actors. And so, we wanted to set up a jurisdiction that traded on our international reputation. Now, remember, for the last 60 years, reinsurance, finance, captives, hedge funds, people in the financial services market have been coming to Bermuda because that's what we do well. We were trading on the reputation of our country. And so, we couldn't do anything to jeopardize that. And so, when we put in place the ICO legislation, we had consultants from all over the world. People that were bastions and beasts in industry, in the ICO industry, in the crypto world came to Bermuda and helped us to develop the legislation around setting up an ICO. So, we passed the ICO legislation. The next phase was regulating cryptocurrencies, regulating digital assets. And we set up a piece of legislation called the Digital Assets Business Act. And that just regulates the digital asset space, exchanges. And the last piece we wanted to do was a banking piece. And this is the last we believe the most significant piece. You were talking to people and they were not able to open up bank accounts. And they were not able to do, so we said, listen, the Bermuda banking environment is very strong. Our banking partners were like, listen, we love what you guys are doing. But based on our corresponding banking relationships, we don't want to do anything to jeopardize that space. But how can we tell people to come to Bermuda to set up your company and they can't open bank accounts? And so we looked at, we just recently passed creating a new banking license that allows people to set up their business in Bermuda and set up banking relationships and set up bank accounts. That simply has to receive the governor's royal assent. As you know, Bermuda is still a British dependent territory and financial matters have to get the okay of the queen. And so that is in the final stages. But we're excited. We're seeing an influx, excuse me, a deluge of people coming to Bermuda to set up their companies in Bermuda. So the first two pieces are in place at the legislation. You have the crypto piece and now the banking's not yet almost approved. It's there. It simply has to get the final sign off and we believe that it should take place within the next two weeks. So by the time this goes here and people see it, we believe that piece will be in place. So this is great news. So historical perspective is, you guys had a good reputation. You had things going on. Now you're added on a new piece, not to compromise your existing relationships and bolt it on. What have you guys learned in the process? What did you discover? Was it easy? Was it hard? What are some of the learnings? What we've learned is that the KYC, Know Your Customers and the AML, Antimounted Laundry, Antimounted Terrorist Financing Pieces, those are the critical pieces. People are looking in this space now for regulatory certainty. So when you're talking about people in the space that are doing ICOs of 500 millions or exchanges that are becoming unicorns, a billion dollar entity in three months, they want a jurisdiction that has regulatory certainty. Only they want a jurisdiction of regulatory certainty, they want to open up the kimono. What has this country done in the past? What do they have to trade on? We're saying you can go to a number of countries in the world and look at our reputation, what we're trading on. And so we wanted to create a space with regulatory certainty. And so we have a regulatory body in Bermuda called the Bermuda Monetary Authority, and they are an independent regulator that they penned the Digital Asset Business Act. And so the opportunity simply for people around the world saying, listen, we want to do an ICO, we want to set up an exchange. Where's a country that we can go to that has a solid reputation? Oh Loon, how many countries have law surrounding the Digital Asset Business Act? How many ICO countries do we have law? Guess what? Bermuda becomes a standout jurisdiction in that regard. Having a regulation signaling is really important. Stability or a comfort is one, but the one concern that we hear from entrepreneurs, including ourselves, when we look at the market, is service providers. You want to have enough service providers around the table. So when I come in and domicile, say in Bermuda, you want to have the banking relationship, you want to have that fiduciary, you want to have service providers, law firms, and other people. How are you guys talking about that? Is that already in place? How does that fit into the overall roadmap for your vision? I don't want to beat a horse or beat a drum too much. That is what we do as a country. So we have set up, well, it's a group of law firms and the Bermuda monetary territory, the Bermuda, that's the registrar of companies that sets up the companies. We have Kevin, and Kevin will tell you about it. He leads our concierge team. So it's one throat to choke, one person that leads. So when you come to Bermuda, we understand that the ease of business, a country that's business-friendly, with a small country and with a small government, it's about ease of reference. Kevin, tell us a bit about the concierge. Just like the Delaware of the globe. Absolutely. Come in, down the aisle. Go in, tell us how it works. I'll give you a little bit of background on what we do at the concierge side. So one thing that we identified is that we want to make sure that we've got a structure and a very clearly defined roadmap for companies to follow so that that process, from when they first connect with the BDA and Bermuda to when they're incorporated and set up and move to Bermuda to start running their business, is a seamless process that has very clearly identifiable road marks and different criteria to get through. So what I do as a concierge manager is I'll identify who that company needs to connect with when they're on the ground in Bermuda, get those meetings set up for when they come down so that they have a very clearly mapped out date for their trip to Bermuda. So they meet with the regulator, they meet with the government leaders, they meet with the folks who've put together legislation that obviously you mentioned the service providers. So identifying who's the right law firm, corporate service provider, advisory firm on the ground in Bermuda, compliance company, and then making sure that depending on what that company wants to achieve out of their operation in Bermuda, they've got an opportunity to connect with those partners on their first trip so that they can put that roadmap together. So making it easy. Making it very easy. So walk me through, I want to come down, I want to do business, I like what I hear. So you send me an email and you say listen, Wayne we're looking at doing an ICO launch in Bermuda, I would like to meet with the regulator, can you put a couple law firms in place in an email? I zip that over to Kevin or you go on our fintech.bm website, fintech.bm website and Kevin literally organizes a meeting. So when you come to Bermuda for your meeting you have a boardroom and all the key players will be in the boardroom. Got it. If you need somebody to pick you up at the airport, if you need a hotel, whatever you need from soup to knots our team actually makes that available to you. So you're not running around trying to find different people to meet everyone's there in the room. And the duty of Bermuda is that, the city of Hamilton's two square kilometers. So your ability to get a lot done in one day is I think second to nowhere else on the planet and working with the BDA across the air scene, we connect with the client before they come down and make sure we identify what their needs are. The number one question I have to ask and this is probably the most important for everyone is, do they have to wear Bermuda shorts? We, when you come you tell us your size, you tell us your size and what color you want and we'll make sure. So the, I tell the story about the Bermuda shorts, the Bermuda shorts, Bermuda's always had to adapt and overcome. Bermuda, we have something called the Bermuda Sluit and it's a sailing rig. And so we, the closest port to Bermuda is Cape Hatteras in North Carolina and we wanted to cut down the time of their voyage. So we created a sailing rig called the Bermuda Rig or the Bermuda Sluit. Over the years that has become the number one adopted rig on sailing boats. We've always had to adapt and become innovative. The Bermuda shorts were a way to adapt and to get through our very hot climate. And so if you look at, just keep that in mind of the innovation of the Bermuda suit and the Bermuda shorts. Well this FinTech evolution is another step in that innovation in a way that we take what's going on in the world and adapt it to make it palatable for everyone. What's the brand promise for you guys when you look at when entrepreneurs out there and other major institutions, especially in the United States, again, the Silicon Valley is one of the hottest issues around startups for expansion. Right now people are stalled, they don't know what to do, they don't hear malt, they hear other things going on. What's the promise that you guys are making to the law firms and the people, entrepreneurs out there trying to establish and grow? The business, the proposition is this. You want a jurisdiction that is trading on years of solid regulation. A country and a government that understands business, how to be efficacious in business. When you come to Bermuda, you're trading on a country that this is what we've done for a living. So you don't have to worry about ethical government. Is your money going to be safe? You have strong banking relationships, strong law firms, top tier law firms in Bermuda. But more importantly, we have legislation that is in place that allow you to have a secure environment with a clear regulatory framework. What should people look for as potentially it might be gimmicks for other countries trying to promote being the Delaware for the globe and domiciling? And what are some of the requirements? I mean, some have you got to live there. What are some of the things that are false promises that you hear from other potential areas that you guys see and don't have to require, but pressure on someone? When you hear the people say we can turn your company around on the next day, that we don't require significant KYC and AML. Red flags immediately go up with the global regulatory bodies. We want when a person comes to Bermuda to know that we have set what we believe is called the Bermuda Standard. When you come to Bermuda, you're going to have to jump through some legal and regulatory hoops. You can see the regulation, the ICO regulation, and the Digital Asset Business Act on Bermuda laws.com.bm, Bermuda laws.bm. And you can go through the legislation clause by clause to see if this meets your needs, how it will affect your business. It sets out clearly what the requirements are to being Bermuda. What's the feedback from businesses? Because, you know, when you hear about certain things, that's what Delaware is, so easy to set up. Surprise all know how to do in a corporation in the United States. We don't have the SEC handicaps that they have in America. Going from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. You're dealing with a company that allows you to be in a domicile that all of the key players finance is, we have a number of elements that are Bermuda. We're creating a biosphere that allows a person to be in a key space. And this is, you have first move as advantage in Bermuda. We have a number of things that we're working on, like the Estonian model of e-residency, which we will call EID, that creates a space that you are in Bermuda in a space that it's protected, that's governed. We believe that when companies set up in Bermuda, they are getting the most secure, the strongest business reputation that a country can have. I think I'd add, I'll just say, you know, quality, certainty and community is what that brand represents. So, you know, you've got that historical quality of what Bermuda brings as a business jurisdiction. You have the certainty of the regulation and that pathway to setting your company up and incorporating in Bermuda. And then the community piece is something that we've been working on and to make sure that any of the players that are coming to Bermuda and connecting with Bermuda and setting up there, they feel that they're really integrated into that whole community in Bermuda, whether it be from the government side, the private sector side. You can see it with the companies that have set up that are here today. You know, they really have embraced that Bermuda culture, the Bermuda Shorts and what we're really trying to do as a jurisdiction in the tech field. What can I expect if I domicile in Bermuda from a company perspective? What do I have to forecast? What's the budget? What do I got to do? What's my expectation? Allocate resources? What's going to be reporting? Can you just give us color commentary? So with reference, it depends what you're trying to do. And so there will be different requirements for the ICO legislation. For the ICO legislation, the key piece of the document that you need is the white paper. Within the white paper, you'll set up what your scope of business is. What do you want to do? What, you know, everything that you require will be set up in your white paper. After the white paper is approved and if it is indeed successful, you go to the Bermuda Monetary Authority and they will outline what they require of you. And very shortly thereafter, you will be able to set up and do business in Bermuda. With reference to the Digital Asset Exchanges, the Digital Asset Business Act, sets a clear guidelines. You're going to need to have a key man in Bermuda, a key woman in Bermuda. You're going to need to have a place of presence in Bermuda. So there are normal requirements. There's levels of requirements based upon a scope. Absolutely. So if you're running an exchange, you have to be like ghosting there. Yeah, you need boost on the ground. And that's why the AML and the KYPC piece is so important. Well, I'm super excited. I think this is a great progress and this has been a big uncertainty. You know, what is the signal? Because people have, you know, cognitive dissonance around them, the decisions they're making. And I've seen entrepreneurs flip flop between Lichtenstein, Malta, Caymans, you know. So this is a real concern. And you guys want to be that place. Not only we will say this, Bermuda is open for business, but remember, when you see the requirements that we have, some companies will meet the standard. We're not going to alter the standard to accommodate a business that might not be what we believe is best for Bermuda. And we believe that once people see the standard, the Bermuda standard, it'll cascade down. And we believe that high ties raises all votes. We have a global standard. And if a company meets, we'll be happy for them to set up and do business in Bermuda. Well, I got to say Silicon Valley, certainly leaders like Gran Fondo and Silicon Valley and others, I've heard good things. How has been the reaction for some of the folks on the East Coast of New York and around the United States and around the world? What has been some of the commentary? What's been the anecdotal feedback that you've heard? We're meeting three and four companies every day of the week. Our runway is full of fintech companies coming to Bermuda from, we have inshore tech companies that are coming in Bermuda. People coming to Bermuda for think tanks to set up incubators and to do exploratory meetings. And so we're seeing a huge interest in Bermuda. The likes have not been seen in the last 20 years in Bermuda. Well, it's been a pleasure chatting with you and thanks for sharing the update. And congratulations. We'll keep up in touch. We'll follow your progress from California. We'll follow up again. The Honorable Wayne Keynes, the Minister of National Security for the Government of Bermuda and Kevin Richards, concierge, you can take care of business. Making it easy for people. Oh yeah, oh yeah. We'll see. We're going to come down and give it a demo. We'll do a try round. We're looking forward to seeing everybody. Thank you for the opportunity. Thank you very much. Major developments happening in the blockchain crypto space are starting to see formation and clarity around standards around in traditional structures, but not so traditional. Not your grandfather's traditional model. This is what's great about blockchain and crypto. Cube coverage here. I'm John Furrier. Thanks for watching. Stay with us. More day two coverage after this short break.