The FCA has begun legal proceedings against global crypto exchange HTX (formerly Huobi) for illegally promoting cryptoasset services to UK consumers. Firms providing crypto products to UK consumers need to comply with rules which protect consumers from unfair and misleading marketing. Advertising cryptoassets on social media or websites without complying with these rules is a criminal offence. Since the rules came into force in October 2023, the FCA has engaged extensively wi

High-risk jurisdictions have significant strategic deficiencies in their regimes to counter money laundering, terrorist financing, and financing of proliferation. For all countries identified as high-risk, the FATF calls on all members and urges all jurisdictions to apply enhanced due diligence, and, in the most serious cases, countries are called upon to apply counter-measures to protect the international financial system from the money laundering, terrorist financing, and p

A former compliance officer for Deutsche Securities alleged in an interview with the FBI seven years ago that she was marginalized, then fired, after raising concerns over transactions involving the now-late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein more than a decade ago. According to a 7-page affidavit unsealed Friday along with millions of pages of other records from the U.S. case against Epstein, the former employee, Tammy Hill-McFadden, told federal investigat

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has reached a settlement agreement (Agreement) with Sino Wealth International Limited (Sino Wealth) and Clear Prosper Global Limited (Clear Prosper) in relation to what the Takeovers Executive (Executive) (Note 1) considers to be breaches of The Codes on Takeovers and Mergers and Share Buy-backs (Codes) by their parent company, Chow Tai Fook Nominee Limited (CTFN), and its concert parties (collectively, Relevant Concert Group), in r

The Eastern Magistrates’ Courts today sentenced Mr Ng Ka Hei to 220 hours of community service following his conviction of false trading in the shares of six Hong Kong-listed companies in a criminal prosecution brought by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) (Notes 1 to 3). The Court also ordered Ng to pay a fine of $117,715, a sum equivalent to the total profit he made from his false trading activities, and to pay the SFC’s full investigation costs of $199,669. Betwee

The strictest ban comes in the crypto sector. On February 6, eight authorities, including the People's Bank of China and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), jointly issued the Notice on Further Preventing and Resolving the Risks Related to Virtual Currencies (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice"). The Notice once again makes clear that business activities related to virtual currencies are illegal financial activities and are strictly prohibited and resolutel

The Eastern Magistrates’ Courts today sentenced Mr Ng Ka Hei to 220 hours of community service following his conviction of false trading in the shares of six Hong Kong-listed companies in a criminal prosecution brought by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) (Notes 1 to 3). The Court also ordered Ng to pay a fine of $117,715, a sum equivalent to the total profit he made from his false trading activities, and to pay the SFC’s full investigation costs of $199,669. Betwee

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) today issued new guidance to extend virtual asset (VA) services to margin financing for licensed brokers providing VA dealing services (VA brokers), and to set out a high-level framework to guide virtual asset trading platforms (VATPs) in developing proposals for VA‑related leveraged products intended for professional investors.       As part of its latest measures to expand product and service diversity under the ASPIRe Roadmap (N