In June, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission announced that applicants for 6 virtual asset trading platforms were "deemed to have been licensed." According to Bloomberg, citing sources, the SFC conducted on-site inspections of some platforms and found unsatisfactory behavior. It is unknown whether the relevant platforms will eventually obtain formal licenses.
Currently, only OSL Exchange and HashKey Exchange are on the official licensed list, while the 11 platforms "deemed to be licensed" are HKbitEX, PantherTrade, Accumulus, DFX Labs, Bixin.com, EX.IO, YAX, Bullish, Crypto.com, WhaleFin and Matrixport HK.
Sources said some cryptocurrency companies rely too much on a few senior executives to oversee the custody of customer assets, while others fail to properly guard against cybercrime risks. It is not clear which companies have failed to meet the CSRC's requirements.
It is reported that the on-site inspection is still ongoing. A spokesperson for the SFC said that it would not comment on specific cases, but the inspection is to determine whether the applicant has complied with its requirements, with particular attention paid to the applicant's protection of customer assets and the "know your customer" process. For platforms that are unable to correct the serious defects found in the on-site inspection, the SFC may choose to cancel their "deemed licensed" status or reject their license applications.