Xu Zhengyu: Submit the draft bill on the licensing system for over-the-counter trading of virtual assets to the Legislative Council as soon as possible
According to ChainCatcher news and a report by Zhitong Finance, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Christopher Hui, responded in writing to lawmakers, stating that the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) strengthened information dissemination in September last year, releasing multiple pieces of information regarding virtual asset trading platforms, including a list of suspicious virtual asset trading platforms, to provide the public with clear, transparent, and timely information. As of February 14 this year, a total of 14 trading platforms are listed on that list.
In the past three years (2021 to 2023), the overall number of crimes involving virtual assets was 1,397, 2,336, and 3,415, with amounts involved being 824 million, 1.704 billion, and 4.398 billion respectively. As for the number of arrests and prosecutions, the police will now only consolidate relevant figures based on individual circumstances for specific cases. For example, in the JPEX case, as of yesterday (the 20th), the police have arrested 70 people, and no one has been prosecuted yet.
In addition, as of February 2 this year, the SFC and the police have exchanged intelligence on over 100 virtual asset trading platforms or virtual asset-related activities. The SFC and the police will decide whether to establish a special investigation based on a basket of factors, including whether there is a connection to Hong Kong, whether it involves violations of relevant laws, the number of people involved, and the amounts involved. To further improve the regulatory framework, the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau launched a public consultation on February 8 this year regarding the legislative proposal for a licensing system for virtual asset over-the-counter trading service providers, with the consultation period ending on April 12. Additionally, the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau and the Monetary Authority jointly conducted a public consultation in December last year on the regulation of stablecoin issuers, with the consultation period ending on February 29 this year. Depending on the consultation results and the progress of preparatory work, the government will submit a bill regarding the aforementioned licensing system to the Legislative Council as soon as possible.