Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has updated its regulatory framework to include two additional investor protection measures.
According to the statement, the updates target brokers interested in offering crypto-related products to investors.
The new investor protection measures apply especially to virtual assets classified as complex products. An example of such a complex product cited by the regulator is offshore virtual assets, non-derivative exchange traded funds (ETFs).
The first update includes a sales restriction. According to the regulator's statement, products related to virtual assets, which are considered complex products, can only be recommended to professional investors.
The second update requires brokers to establish a method to evaluate whether their clients are knowledgeable about investing in virtual assets or virtual asset products. This “virtual asset-knowledge test” must be passed before the broker can proceed with a transaction.
However, if clients do not have the knowledge specified in the test, the broker can still execute the transaction provided they provide adequate training to the client. Institutional professional investors and qualified institutional professional investors are exempt from this test.
The following statements were used in the continuation of the statement:
“The SFC and HKMA have reviewed their current policies provided for intermediaries wishing to engage in activities related to virtual assets. “The policy has been updated in light of recent developments in the market and demands from the industry, which wish to further expand individual access opportunities through intermediaries and allow investors to deposit and withdraw virtual assets directly to and from intermediaries with appropriate safeguards.”
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is known as the central banking institution of Hong Kong.
*This is not investment advice.
