The OSL Digital Cryptocurrency company obtained the approval to “in principle” start operating in Hong Kong. With this, it is one step closer to becoming the first cryptocurrency trading exchange in Hong Kong.
The final approval still depends on the fulfillment of some criteria, as informed the company in a communiqué. Nonetheless, it did not clarify which are those requirements. With this green light, OSL will be able to start trading digital assets, including the so-called security tokens.
The company started the process after the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Authority (SFC) launched a regulation for digital asset trading platforms.
More confidence and security for the investor
According to Hugh Madden, president of the BC Group, controller of OSL, traditional finance had an interest in digital assets. “But the lack of regulatory clarity had discouraged its participation”, the executive said in a statement. For him, the license changes the scenario because it gives more certainty and confidence to investors.
According to OSL, the SFC is the only one of its kind among the world’s major financial centers to fully integrate the requirements for digital asset platforms with traditional standards. And it is thanks to this integration that digital asset platforms clients will have the same protections as traditional finance, says the company.
How do cryptocurrencies stand outside Hong Kong
But it’s not just Hong Kong that seeks to advance the rules of the cryptocurrencies market, recalls Reuters. Singapore, for example, is on-going with the licensing process. And the Financial Services Agency of Japan has already granted licenses for some crypto exchanges.
As Coindesk explains, greater vigilance over digital assets is a movement aiming to tackle the anti-money laundering concerns and know-your-client issues. The first, as the name suggests, concerns measures to combat money laundering. The second requires companies to check, for example, the identity of customers.
