According to the South China Morning Post, the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong (SFC) is said to be exploring cooperation with the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department (C&ED) to jointly regulate cryptocurrency over-the-counter (OTC) services.
According to the Legislative Council discussion document in April this year, the original proposal was to place cryptocurrency OTC services entirely under the jurisdiction of the Customs. However, the report quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that the industry had doubts about this, believing that "cryptocurrency OTC physical stores ", online platforms" are supervised by the customs, while "cryptocurrency exchanges, ETFs and other areas" are regulated by the China Securities Regulatory Commission, which will inevitably cause confusion.
To this end, the China Securities Regulatory Commission is currently soliciting opinions from the industry to explore whether a new licensing system should be introduced so that the China Securities Regulatory Commission and Customs can cooperate with the Customs to supervise cryptocurrency OTC services. On the other hand, the China Securities Regulatory Commission has also been consulting with a number of companies in recent months to explore the introduction of a licensing system for cryptocurrency custody services, but the relevant discussions are still at an early stage and may still be variable.
The South China Morning Post cited a statement issued by the Securities and Futures Commission on Wednesday as saying: "To promote the sustainable and responsible development of Hong Kong's cryptocurrency industry, the Securities and Futures Commission works closely with the government and other regulatory agencies to jointly develop a robust, clear and consistent Regulatory environment.”
The Hong Kong cryptocurrency platform JPEX was suspected of fraud last year. Many managers of OTC exchange shops were arrested for promoting JPEX, which aroused concern from all walks of life about the key role played by OTC operators in the case. The Hong Kong Treasury Bureau immediately solicited public opinions on the OTC supervision of cryptocurrency in February this year. The consultation period ended in April this year, but the results have not yet been announced.
In the past two years, Hong Kong has been working hard to attract cryptocurrency businesses by providing "regulatory clarity." In addition to opening cryptocurrency trading to retail investors and approving the listing of cryptocurrency ETFs, it has also established a cryptocurrency service provider licensing system. However, since license applications closed in February this year, none of the 11 "deemed to be licensed" platforms has yet received a formal license.
〈Jointly supervise “cryptocurrency OTC services”? News: The Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong is discussing cooperation with the Customs and Excise Department.> This article was first published on "Block Guest".
