Hong Kong officials plan to host a meeting between crypto companies and bankers in an attempt to ease financing for the sector. The meeting, scheduled for April 28 at the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, is intended to “facilitate direct dialog” between the two sides and share practical experiences and perspectives in opening and maintaining bank accounts.
The move comes as crypto companies are facing increasing difficulty when trying to set up corporate bank accounts in the city due to strict KYC and anti-money laundering (AML) rules.
Additionally, a number of Chinese state-owned banks in Hong Kong, including Bank of Communications, Bank of China, and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, have either started offering banking services to local crypto firms or have made inquiries. This is considered an indication that the recent move by Hong Kong to become a major digital asset center has backing from mainland China.
Last week, Hong
Kong’s Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Christian Hui, announced that more than 80 companies have shown interest in establishing a presence in the city since October 2022.
This comes as the city has recently adopted a more crypto-friendly stance in a bid to attract more crypto companies. Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has published a consultation paper on its proposed regulatory regime for crypto trading platforms, inviting market participants to share their views.
Meanwhile, regulators in the US, specifically the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), have launched an aggressive crackdown on the crypto industry. Just yesterday, the CFTC announced that it is suing Binance and founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao on allegations that the crypto exchange knowingly offered unregistered crypto derivative products in the US in the transgression of the law.
Additionally, the SEC had sent a so-called “Wells notice” to Coinbase, threatening the crypto exchange with legal actions regarding some of its listed digital assets, its staking service Coinbase Earn, Coinbase Prime, and Coinbase Wallet.
Compiled by Coinbold