Cryptocurrency exchange Binance not licensed to sell stock tokens in Hong Kong, says markets regulator SFC

No entity in the Binance group is licensed or registered to conduct ‘regulated activity’ in Hong Kong, says Securities and Futures Commission

Hong Kong plans to bring in legislation requiring all cryptocurrency exchanges in the city to be licensed and only to offer services to professional investors

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Cryptocurrency trading volumes on Binance reached US$668 billion last month. Photo: Reuters

Published: 8:40pm, 16 Jul 2021Updated: 8:39pm, 16 Jul 2021

Hong Kong’s markets watchdog on Friday said Binance, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, was not licensed to sell “stock tokens” in the city, products it said the exchange had offered in other markets.

Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) also said in its statement that “no entity in the Binance group is licensed or registered to conduct ‘regulated activity’ in Hong Kong.”

The move followed other warnings to Binance from regulators in Italy, Thailand, Japan, Germany and the United States.

Stock tokens are virtual assets that are represented to be backed by depository portfolios of underlying overseas listed stock.

The SFC said these were likely to be “securities” under Hong Kong rules, and so it may also be an offence to offer them to the Hong Kong public without its authorisation.

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