Hong Kong

Market Infrastructure

Hong Kong Virtual Banks Likely to Delay Launch – Report

By Editors | 18/09/2019

Hong Kong virtual banks are reportedly delaying plans to start promotional campaigns partly in response to city-wide protests, among other reasons.

Big Picture

Moody’s Becomes Second Agency to Downgrade Hong Kong Outlook

By Editors | 17/09/2019

Moody’s says the downgrade of Hong Kong’s outlook to negative is the result of a shift in its equilibrium with China, in addition to the ongoing protests in the city.

Market Infrastructure

HKEX Merger a ‘Significant Backward Step’, Says LSEG

By Manesh Samtani | 14/09/2019

The London Stock Exchange Group sees no merit in further engagement because of fundamental flaws in HKEX’s offer.

Crypto / Digital Assets

HKEX Seeks ‘Unprecedented’ Market Connectivity Via LSEG Merger

By Manesh Samtani | 11/09/2019

HKEX chief Charles Li says the merger would create the most important investment platform and risk management infrastructure for the free flow of global capital between the East and West.

Enforcement

SFC Fines HSBC HK$2.1m for Phone Recording Failures

By Editors | 11/09/2019

Voice recording was inadvertently not enabled on some private banking service lines, resulting in over 5,800 client order instructions not being tape-recorded.

Fintech / Regtech

Malaysia Association Joins APAC RegTech Network

By Editors | 10/09/2019

The APAC RegTech Network was established by the regtech committees of the fintech associations of Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore in May.

AML / KYC

SFC Asks Licensed Firms to Bolster AML/CTF Compliance

By Editors | 09/09/2019

Following the release of the FATF mutual evaluation report for Hong Kong, the SFC has highlighted key work areas for licensed firms and their associated entities.

Securities / Derivatives

HKEX Recovers from Derivatives Market Outage

By Editors | 06/09/2019

Derivatives trading was suspended on Thursday due to software issues in HKEX’s vendor supplied trading system, which “have now been isolated”.

AML / KYC

HKMA Offers Guidance in Response to FATF Report

By Manesh Samtani | 06/09/2019

Banks and SVF operators are asked to explore how technology can be used to more effectively and efficiently combat risks, including through the use of analytics in monitoring.