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Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia: Hong Kong's financial watchdog Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has unveiled a comprehensive set of regulations governing cryptocurrencies in a bid to make the city a major trading centre for virtual assets.
The SFC referred to "virtual assets" which it defined as covering cryptocurrencies, crypto-assets and digital tokens.
"The new approach which aims to bring virtual asset portfolio managers and distributors of virtual asset funds under its regulatory net. It also sets out a conceptual framework for the potential regulation of virtual asset trading platforms, commonly known as cryptocurrency exchanges," said the statement.
Fund managers that invest more than 10 percent of their portfolio in crypto assets will need to be licensed, SFC said in a statement. But if less than 10% of the portfolio is invested in cryptocurrencies, then this restriction does not apply.
"The SFC will impose licensing conditions on firms which manage or intend to manage portfolios investing in virtual assets, irrespective of whether the virtual assets meet the definition of "securities" or "futures contracts," it said.
"The measures announced today allow us to regulate the management or distribution of virtual asset funds in one way or another so that investors' interests would be protected either at the fund management level, at the distribution level, or both," said Ashley Alder, the SFC's Chief Executive Officer. "We hope to encourage th...................... To view our full article Click here
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