last updated: 2018-11-05 version history

The SFC

From Wikipedia:

“The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong is the independent statutory body charged with regulating the securities and futures markets in Hong Kong. The SFC is responsible for fostering an orderly securities and futures markets, to protect investors and to help promote Hong Kong as an international financial centre and a key financial market in China. Even though it is considered to be a branch of the government, it is run independently under the authorisation of the laws relating to Securities and Futures.”

On November 1, 2018, the Chief Executive Officer of the SFC, Ashley Alder, announced in his keynote the strict enforcement and clarification of existing rules, as well as a sandboxing arrangement for cryptocurrency exchanges.

You can find the keynote here in full.

You can find Appendix I (on funds) here in full.

You can find Appendix II (on exchanges) here in full.

Comments from the International Bitcoin Community

Leo Weese: “SFC Regulates Crypto-exchanges — Party Over in Hong Kong?”

Joseph Wang: “Why regulatory sandboxes make no sense in Hong Kong”

Henry Yu & Associates: “RE: STATEMENT FROM SFC ON CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR REGULATING CRYPTO-EXCHANGES”

OSL Brokerage: “A regulatory framework is a prudent approach to the development of this market”

PWC: “Overview over Hong Kong’s New Crypto Exchange Framework”

Media coverage

Bloomberg: “Hong Kong Reveals Crypto Rules in Push to Tame Wild Market”

Reuters: “Hong Kong securities regulator to propose ‘sandbox’ for crypto exchanges”

HKET: “證監限虛擬資產基金 售專業投資者”

HKEJ: “證監發牌規管虛擬幣投資”

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