Source: DeThings

On September 25th, as the JPEX fraud scandal in Hong Kong continued to escalate, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) held a press conference to announce that they will further strengthen the dissemination of information on virtual asset investments and investor education, and enhance public awareness of virtual trading platforms. The SFC stated that they will publish a "list of virtual asset trading platform applicants", and currently there are 4 institutions on the preliminary list of applicants.

According to a report from Hong Kong Economic Times, the four institutions are HKVAX, HKBitEx, Hong Kong BGE Limited, and Victory Fintech Company Limited.

The above four institutions are all from Hong Kong, which is different from the previously rumored "popular" applications. This also means that the local cryptocurrency exchanges previously announced to apply have not formally submitted their applications.

HKVAX

HKVAX (Hong Kong Virtual Asset Exchange) announced that it is leading the other three exchanges and has received principle approval from the Securities and Futures Commission. On August 11th, the company stated in a press release on its official website that the final approval from the regulatory agency will allow the company to offer regulated activities of Type 1 (dealing in securities) and Type 7 (automated trading services) to its clients. Once the regulatory process is completed, HKVAX will offer its users three core products - OTC brokerage, institutional-grade trading platform, and custody solutions.

HKVAX co-founder and COO, Huo Zhaoliang, revealed that it has taken them 3 years from applying for the license to the present day. It is expected to take at least another half year to obtain the official license. In addition, the official website shows that HKVAX has three co-founders, among whom the CEO, Wu Weiliang, was formerly the Managing Director of the International Department of CITIC Futures. He is currently the Vice Chairman of the Financial and Treasury Services Committee of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce (HKGCC).

Victory Fintech Company Limited

Victory Fintech Company Limited is a company invested by Victory Securities, a local veteran securities firm. The company's board of directors includes Gao Juan, the chairman of the Hong Kong Securities Association.

Shengli Securities has been active in virtual asset investment in recent years, and holds licenses from the China Securities Regulatory Commission for No. 1 (virtual asset trading), No. 4 (virtual asset consulting services), and No. 9 (virtual asset asset management services). On its virtual asset introduction page, it even has the advertising slogan "Buying stocks and buying coins is just as simple." In addition, on March 8, 2023, OSL announced a strategic partnership with Shengli Securities.

Recently, Victory Securities' official website announced that its virtual asset trading app is the "first compliant virtual asset trading application in the Hong Kong financial market", with OSL providing cryptocurrency trading services for professional investors in the initial stage.

HKbitEX

According to the official website information, HKbitEX was established in 2019 by a team of former senior executives from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, including founder Gao Han. In 2020, HKbitEX successfully completed a $10 million Series A2 financing round, which was led by Axion Global Investment Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed company ANX International, and Hanwha Asset Management.

According to the official website introduction, HKbitEX is "committed to providing a compliant and regulated digital asset spot trading platform and OTC trading platform for global professional investors. It is one of the first institutions in the Asia-Pacific region to apply for a virtual asset trading platform license from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission."

HKBGE

HKBGE is a subsidiary of HKE Holdings Limited, established on April 19, 2021. HKBGE wholly owns HKBGE TSP Limited, which obtained a TCSP license (Trust or Company Service Provider license) under AMLO in September 2021, providing virtual asset custody services for HKBGE's trading platform.

According to a report from Hong Kong Economic Times, HKBGE's parent company HKE Holdings has a market value of about 2.3 billion yuan, and the company's chairman and major shareholder is 31-year-old Lian Haomin. Lian Haomin participated in the Hong Kong Election Committee election in 2021 and was automatically elected. In 2022, he filed a petition for liquidation with the High Court, which attracted attention from the media. There is speculation that he is the son of Stanley Ho, known as the "King of Gambling on the High Seas", but this has not been confirmed.

HKBGE's Director and CEO, Ouyang Jiannan, is one of the founding members of HashKey Digital Asset Group. Since 2018, he has served as the head of HashKey's strategic planning and the Chief Operating Officer of its certified virtual asset trading platform regulated by the China Securities Regulatory Commission. According to the latest company registration information, HK BGE currently has only two directors, including Ouyang Jinpei and Ji Dana, who are respectively in charge of company operations and business development. The company's website is currently only open to invited professional investors.

HKBGE is applying for a virtual asset trading platform license. The company's Chief Legal Officer, Li Mingjun, stated that it took about 1 to 2 years for the company to apply for the license. Currently, it is in the confirmation stage and the next stage is to obtain preliminary approval. Based on the experience of companies that have already obtained the license, it takes 4 to 6 months to obtain the license after obtaining preliminary approval.

It is reported that the China Securities Regulatory Commission will also release multiple lists of virtual asset trading platforms, including the "Licensed Virtual Asset Trading Platform List", "Closed Virtual Asset Trading Platform List", and "Virtual Asset Trading Platform List Treated as Licensed". In addition, the China Securities Regulatory Commission will also publish a special list of suspicious virtual asset trading platforms on its website.

It is worth mentioning that previously, HTX global consultant Sun Yuchen stated in an interview with CoinDesk that HTX expects to obtain a Hong Kong license within 6-12 months. As of now, HTX has not disclosed the latest progress.

On September 25th, according to OKX Chinese Twitter, it is currently planned to submit a formal application before the end of October.

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