Hong Kong

Crypto / Digital Assets

SFC Grants First In-Principle Approval to STO Platform

By Editors | 19/03/2023

The approval was granted to Signum Digital Limited, a joint venture between Coinstreet Holdings and Somerley Capital Holdings.

Securities / Derivatives

PCAOB Inspectors to Visit Hong Kong Auditors Next Week

By Editors | 17/03/2023

PCAOB inspectors will meet Deloitte and EY next week to prepare for audit inspections that will take place later this year.

Enforcement

SFC, ICAC Arrest Five More Ramp-and-Dump Syndicate Members

By Editors | 16/03/2023

The arrestees include qualified accountants and senior executives of a number of Hong Kong-listed companies, the SFC and ICAC said.

Securities / Derivatives

HKEX Confirms Plans to Launch RMB Counter of its Stock

By Editors | 16/03/2023

HKEX said the launch of RMB counter will allow investors to seamlessly interchange between securities listed in both HKD and RMB.

AML / KYC

HKIMR Report Explores GBA Cross-border Payments Challenges

By Editors | 16/03/2023

A survey of FIs found that some GBA transactions are still processed manually. Other challenges relate to differing messaging formats, regulatory requirements and investment quotas.

Enforcement

SFC Fines Brokerage for 2015 System Testing Incident

By Editors | 14/03/2023

I-Access Investors incorrectly used data from system testing as production data and inadvertently triggered 27 stop loss sell orders by 12 clients.

Market Infrastructure

HK to Amend Clearing Rules to Account for IBOR Reforms

By Editors | 13/03/2023

Mandatory clearing will be required for certain OTC transactions referencing ARRs rather than for those referencing IBORs that are being discontinued.

Enforcement

OFAC Cracks Down on Entities Helping Iran Evade Sanctions

By Editors | 10/03/2023

The sanctions target entities in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and elsewhere for helping Iran evade sanctions and supplying critical components for its drones.

Securities / Derivatives

SFC Fines City International Futures for AML Compliance Failures

By Editors | 10/03/2023

City International Futures is the 6th firm to be fined over the use of software that allows Mainland investors to trade without opening a local securities account in Hong Kong.