Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) reminds investors to trade virtual assets only on SFC-licensed virtual asset trading platforms (VATP). If they are unsure of the VATP regulatory regime they are currently dealing with, they can check the SFC’s Arena virtual asset trading platforms.
In particular, investors should check whether a VATP is on the “List of Licensed Virtual Asset Trading Platforms” or the “List of Virtual Asset Trading Platform Applicants”. VATPs on the “List of Licensed Virtual Asset Platforms” are officially licensed by the SFC. VATPs on the “List of Virtual Asset Trading Platform Applicants” include VATPs operating in Hong Kong that have submitted license applications to the SFC on or before 29 February 2024.
Investors should check the regulatory status of a VATP from time to time and in any event on 1 March 2024. This is because VATPs operating in Hong Kong that have not submitted their license applications to the SFC by 29 February 2024 must to close down their operations in Hong Kong by 31 May 2024, in accordance with transitional arrangements under the SFC’s VAT regulatory regime.
For VATP investors operating in Hong Kong who are not on the “List of Licensed Virtual Asset Trading Platforms” or the “List of Virtual Asset Trading Platform Applicants”, they are requested to prepare earlier, before May 31, 2024, p .such as closing their accounts with these VATPs or transferring to an SFC-licensed VATP for virtual asset trading.
The SFC, however, reminds the public that applications submitted by applicants to the “List of Virtual Asset Trading Platform Applicants” are still being processed and may – or may not – be approved. Therefore, trading on these platforms involves risk.
Last but not least, the SFC strongly urges investors to trade virtual assets only on SFC-licensed VATPs, because they may be left unprotected from trading on unlicensed platforms.