Hong Kong’s ZA Bank becomes first virtual bank to get SFC license

ZA Financial institution turns into the primary digital financial institution in Hong Kong to be licensed by the Securities and Futures Fee for Sort 1 regulated actions.

In keeping with Hong Kong information outlet HKEJ, a spokesperson for ZA Financial institution stated on September 30 that ZA Financial institution has obtained approval from the China Securities Regulatory Fee to permit the corporate so as to add new phrases and circumstances for digital asset transactions to its Sort 1 license .

The information follows a year-long course of by the financial institution since Hong Kong monetary regulators tightened restrictions on unlicensed exchanges and the event of a regulated crypto ecosystem.

The financial institution plans to implement an funding fund service and function underneath the crypto guidelines of the nation’s monetary regulators.

You may additionally like: Hong Kong’s crypto ambitions are examined by licensing points: report

ZA Financial institution CEO Rockson Hsu acknowledged in a press launch that the corporate stays dedicated to changing into a “sport changer” for the banking trade two years after its official launch. He additionally highlighted the financial institution’s plan to launch an funding fund service.

“We stay up for additional enhancing the consumer expertise with our groundbreaking funding fund companies!” stated Hsu.

Hong Kong launched new rules in 2022, requiring all crypto exchanges working within the metropolis to submit license purposes by February 2024. Since then, greater than 24 corporations have struggled to acquire licenses. As of August 2024, roughly twelve purposes have been withdrawn, together with these of Bybit, Huobi HK and OKX.

In Could 2024, the SFC warned buyers to solely use licensed platforms. The nation’s cryptocurrency rules got here into impact in June 2023.

On July 18, 2024, ZA Financial institution started providing banking companies to stablecoin issuers after the Hong Kong Financial Authority unveiled a listing of authorized corporations for its stablecoin sandbox initiative.

In a press launch on July 18, ZA Financial institution partnered with RD InnoTech, one of many first corporations listed by the HKMA for sandbox trials. At the moment, ZA Financial institution managed to draw about ten further stablecoin prospects.

Learn extra: ZA Financial institution launches banking options for stablecoin issuers in Hong Kong