Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission: The Anti-Money Laundering Ordinance applies to the virtual asset industry

The "virtual currency to ETF" mechanism in Hong Kong has raised concerns about money laundering. The industry believes that the review difficulty, such as KYT (Know Your Token), is high. Some individuals with mainland backgrounds are trying to conduct small-scale "virtual currency to ETF" transactions, taking the opportunity to "whiten" their own holdings of ether and bitcoin through forms such as personal accounts. They have also deployed some virtual currencies to Hong Kong's virtual currency exchanges and will decide whether to increase capital in the future depending on the situation. When responding to relevant questions, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission emphasized that in the operation of ETF products, every link in the entire virtual asset ecosystem, including fund companies, custodians, asset trading platforms, participating brokers, etc., must be licensed or recognized institutions and strictly comply with requirements such as asset custody, liquidity, valuation, information disclosure, and investor education. The "Anti-Money Laundering Ordinance" of the Securities and Futures Commission also stipulates that financial institutions and designated non-financial enterprises and industry personnel must comply with customer due diligence and record-keeping requirements, and relevant regulations apply to the virtual asset industry.