Swiss crypto bank SEBA announced that its Hong Kong subsidiary has received a license from the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC). The company had received an in-principle approval in August this year.
The license permits SEBA Hong Kong to deal in and distribute all securities, including virtual assets-related products.
This includes OTC derivatives and structured products with underlying virtual assets; advise on securities and virtual assets; and conduct asset management for discretionary accounts in both traditional securities and virtual assets.
SEBA Hong Kong said that it has commenced operations, offering its services to corporate treasuries, funds, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals.
The firm added that it will continue to monitor the global regulatory landscape and plans to collaborate with regulators worldwide to identify further growth opportunities.
This is an addition to SEBA Group’s existing licenses in Switzerland and Abu Dhabi.
Amy Yu, CEO APAC, SEBA Hong Kong said,
“Our experience with the SFC has been extremely positive and it provided a facilitating environment throughout the licensing process. The region’s position at the forefront of finance, trading, and innovation has long been attractive to us, as servicing APAC clientele is an integral aspiration of the team’s DNA.
We are tremendously excited by Hong Kong’s deep-rooted capital markets and appetite for investment and trading; to have secured this license from the SFC provides enormous potential for our business, owing to the well-established and defined regulatory framework that is present here.”
Franz Bergmueller, Group CEO, SEBA Bank added,
“Hong Kong has been at the centre of the crypto economy since Bitcoin’s inception, and we are very pleased to have added this Hong Kong licence with the full approval from the SFC to our existing licenses in Switzerland (FINMA) and Abu Dhabi (FSRA).
This regulatory clarity not only benefits our business but also supplements Hong Kong’s status as a global financial services hub, home to a multitude of market leaders in banking, asset management, and capital markets. The region’s robust legal system provides a solid foundation to conduct crypto-related services and we look forward to beginning that from today.”