Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), has issued an approval-in-principle for OSL, Asia’s digital asset platform and member of BC Technology Group, to operate a virtual asset trading platform.
The platform will be operated under a license for Type 1 (dealing in securities) and Type 7 for automated trading service (ATS) regulated activities under SFC’s virtual asset licensing framework in Hong Kong.
Once the conditions for the final approval are satisfied, the license will permit OSL to operate a brokerage and automated trading service for digital assets, including security tokens (STOs). The company is said to be “on track to become the world’s only publicly listed, licensed, insured and Big-4 audited digital asset platform”.
Recently BC Group had recently acquired the core intellectual property assets of blockchain engineering firm Enuma Technologies as part of their bid for the license approval.
“Securing approval-in-principle for a virtual asset trading platform license in Hong Kong, inclusive of security tokens, underscores our commitment to comprehensively addressing the demands of institutional investors. Licensing is a game-changer, because it provides certainty and confidence to investors, unlocking massive participation as it drives the increasing use of our platform by the global institutional investor community.”
said BC Group CEO Hugh Madden.
The SFC framework continues to be the only licensing framework within the top international financial centers that fully integrates the specific requirements for digital asset platforms alongside traditional rigorous securities regulations.
Because of this unique integrated framework, clients of a Hong Kong licensed digital asset trading platform can enjoy all the protections and safeguards they have become accustomed to in traditional finance, and can also take comfort in additional protections under the new regime that have been tailor-made for the new asset class.
OSL CEO Wayne Trench added:
“The SFC displayed impressive foresight in 2017 when it embarked on developing an ecosystem for professional and institutional traders to invest in digital assets. Recent global regulatory developments, emerging sovereign digital currency trials and increasingly cashless societies, exemplify that digital assets are today’s reality and not some distant dream. Both Hong Kong and OSL are well-positioned as institutional participation continues to accelerate in the coming months and years.”
