Hong Kong authorities have launched a public session on legislative proposals to introduce a licensing regime for suppliers of over-the-counter (OTC) digital asset (VA) buying and selling providers.
Based on the Hong Kong government, some fraud circumstances have proven the involvement of VA OTC operators, therefore the necessity to regulate OTC providers underneath AMLO to cut back cash laundering and financing dangers.
The session proposes requiring a license from the Commissioner of Customs and Excise (CCE) for any individual carrying on a enterprise offering spot buying and selling providers for any digital belongings for cash in Hong Kong. As well as, the federal government is proposing protection of all VA over-the-counter providers, giving CCE oversight authority over licensees’ anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing actions. The session will final two months till April 12, 2024.
Final October, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Fee announced that it was updating its coverage on digital forex gross sales and associated necessities because of market occasions and requests for sides of the trade.
Based on the division’s new requirements, digital belongings are handled as complicated merchandise and are topic to the identical guidelines as related monetary merchandise. The fee cites cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and merchandise issued exterior of Hong Kong as examples of complicated merchandise.