ICO(Initial Coin Offering) 토큰 발행인의 증권법상 책임과 임원배상책임보험(D&O Insurance)의 역할―ICO의 규제와 투자자 보호의 측면에서―

Virtual asset industry based on blockchain technology is currently in a period of transition from an unrealistic, idealistic, and decentralized risky sector to mainstream component of global financial markets and driver of economic growth. Especially, virtual assets have been gaining in prominence and economic significance shifting from instruments linked to illegal drug marketplaces and money laundering to important financial products as secure and flexible means of transactions. With this market trend, the industry also saw the rise of ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings) as a fundraising mechanism despite the current state of the market such as uncertain regulatory environment, issuers’ fraudulent activities, negative public perception and so on. This article focuses on the feasibility whether traditional corporate D&O insurances can play an important role for the financial stability and the growth of industry by influencing its unique functions of indirect market monitoring and improvement of corporate governance even in the case of ICOs which are still in regulatory gray area. For this purpose, this article begins by generally reviewing basics of ICO and D&O insurance in Part Ⅱ. In Part Ⅲ, this article analyzes securities liability and the D&O insurance that covers it in the context of an IPO (Initial Public Offering) and then, applies these concepts to the ICO context (wether ICO tokens are subject to securities regulation, what types of liability might be subjected to and which individuals affiliated with the issuer could be targeted for such liability). Finally, part Ⅳ examines how D&O insurance for ICO issuers might function as a indirect means of regulating ICOs.