The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (10 April) that the Monetary Authority has granted stablecoin issuer licences under the Stablecoins Ordinance to Anchorpoint Financial Limited and The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited for issuing stablecoins in Hong Kong.  The licences take effect today. According to the licensees’ business plans, they intend to complete the necessary preparation work and launch business in the coming few months. Mr Eddi

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has reprimanded and fined Impression Investment Limited (Impression) $2 million for failing to diligently supervise its staff and maintain effective internal controls over staff trading activities (Note 1). The SFC has also prohibited Mr Liu Shan, a former director, responsible officer (RO) and manager-in-charge of Impression, from re-entering the industry for eight months from 2 April 2026 to 1 December 2026 (Notes 2 to 3). The SFC

The AML Investigative Agent from Hawk automates labor-intensive processes such as data gathering, case summarization, typology identification, and drafting Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) narratives. Financial institutions can now scale AML operations without proportional headcount increases, enabling revenue growth and new product launches unhindered by manual limits. This agent integrates seamlessly with existing systems, leveraging AI to handle repetitive tasks while main

The Federal Government of Nigeria (FG) and the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) have urged enhanced collaboration among stakeholders to tackle money laundering, terrorism financing, and related crimes across West Africa. This call came during a media workshop in Abuja, an outreach by GIABA—an ECOWAS agency focused on shielding member states’ economies from crime proceeds and terror funding. Speakers emphasized that these transnat

The United Kingdom has imposed sanctions on Xinbi Guarantee, a major Chinese-language online marketplace that has become a critical hub for cryptocurrency scam laundering and illicit services. This action, announced on March 26, 2026, by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), marks the first time a nation has targeted such a platform under its Global Human Rights sanctions regime. Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis reports Xinbi processed over $19.9 billion

The FCA has fined Dinosaur Merchant Bank Limited (DMBL) £338,000 for failing to put in place effective systems and controls to detect and report suspicious trading in its contracts for difference (CFD) business. CFDs are sophisticated financial products that are used to speculate on various assets going up or down in value. Given their high-risk nature, firms must have strong and reliable surveillance arrangements to prevent insider dealing and market manipulation.  In June 2

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has prohibited Mr Lui Pak Tong (also known as Patrick Lui), a former licensed representative of Thunder Capital Limited (Thunder), from re-entering the industry for life.  The SFC also fined Lui $17.43 million, equivalent to the profit he gained from his misconduct (Notes 1 and 2). The SFC’s investigation found that, between September 2017 and June 2020, Lui, in his official capacity as Thunder’s investment analyst, caused a segrega

The Court of First Instance has granted an interim injunction order against four suspected manipulators of the shares of KNT Holdings Limited (KNT) in legal proceedings brought by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) under section 213 of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO) (Note 1). Pursuant to the Court order, the four suspects, who allegedly manipulated KNT shares between 28 February 2019 and 15 May 2019, are prohibited from disposing of, dealing with, diminis

A proposed class-action complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California accuses JPMorgan Chase of providing the exclusive banking infrastructure for Goliath Ventures Inc., a now-defunct Florida entity accused of running a $328 million cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme. Lead plaintiff Robby Alan Steele, represented by lawyers at Shaw Lewenz PC with co-counsel, claims more than 2,000 investors lost funds after being lured with promises of high crypt