Hong Kong Securities Watchdog Escalates Warnings as JPEX Intensifies Activities

Key Points:

• Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) issues stern warnings against JPEX, a virtual asset trading platform, due to heightened activities.
• The SFC maintains its policy of only publishing licensed virtual asset trading platforms to prevent public misconceptions about regulatory oversight.

In a recent development, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has issued stern warnings against the virtual asset trading platform JPEX, highlighting concerns over its intensified activities. 

Huang Lexin, Director of the Licensing Division and Head of the Financial Technology Group at the SFC, conveyed that the SFC lacks the regulatory authority over virtual asset trading platforms due to the existing regulatory framework.

Despite the SFC’s prior listing of JPEX as an unlicensed entity and a suspicious website in July 2022 as a precautionary measure, the platform has escalated its operations. This comes in the wake of the implementation of a new compulsory regulatory system in Hong Kong in June this year, which mandates platforms without intentions to apply for a virtual asset trading license to orderly cease their operations in the region.

Regrettably, JPEX neither applied for licensing nor adhered to the orderly winding-down process. It did not heed the SFC‘s earlier public reminders regarding the risks associated with unlicensed virtual asset trading platforms and even increased its promotional efforts. As a result, on September 13, the SFC issued a direct warning against JPEX, calling upon Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) and exchange shops to cease their promotion of the platform.

Huang Lexin stressed that the publication of a list of “virtual asset trading platforms that are applying” might inadvertently mislead the public into thinking that these platforms are subject to regulatory oversight. Therefore, the Hong Kong SFC continues to uphold its practice of only publishing information about virtual asset trading platforms that have successfully obtained licenses, ensuring transparency and accountability in the crypto space.

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