The Hong Kong Securities Futures Fee (SFC) is about to unencumber pointers for cryptocurrency trade licensing in Might, because it strikes to toughen buying and selling services and products to retail traders from June 1. In step with Bloomberg, the plans had been showed via the SFC’s CEO, Julia Leung, who printed that over 150 events had equipped comments throughout the session procedure at the licensing regime.
The impending pointers will most probably come with regulatory necessities for Anti-Cash Laundering (AML) and Know Your Shopper (KYC) measures, amongst different issues. A February 20 record via the SFC additionally highlighted those components as vital for regulating digital belongings.
Whilst maximum potential Digital Asset Carrier Supplier (VASP) licensees are nonetheless looking forward to affirmation, some buying and selling platforms have already won licenses from the SFC. Amongst them are OSL and Hashkey Workforce, consistent with Reuters.
On the other hand, no longer all buying and selling platforms have selected to stick in Hong Kong amid its ambitions to transform a significant crypto hub. Bitget, which boasts $1.4 trillion in belongings in reserve, introduced on April 24 that it will stop providing services and products to its Hong Kong consumers when the VASP regime takes impact on June 1.
In spite of this setback, the discharge of the licensing pointers is anticipated to deliver additional readability and law to the Hong Kong crypto marketplace, whilst additionally offering a framework for reliable buying and selling platforms to perform beneath. This is able to lend a hand to spice up investor self belief within the sector and toughen town’s wider efforts to ascertain itself as a number one hub for virtual belongings and blockchain era.
Hong Kong has already made vital strides on this space, with its Securities and Futures Fee changing into probably the most first regulators to factor steering on virtual asset fund managers in November 2018. The town has additionally performed host to various high-profile crypto occasions in recent times, together with the Token2049 convention, which pulls blockchain trade leaders from around the globe.
In spite of this development, alternatively, Hong Kong nonetheless faces stiff festival from different world crypto hubs, corresponding to Singapore and Switzerland. Through introducing transparent licensing pointers and regulatory necessities for crypto buying and selling platforms, the SFC might be able to lend a hand Hong Kong improve its place on this an increasing number of aggressive box.
