Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has issued an in-principle approval to Hong Kong Virtual Asset Exchange (HKVAX) to operate a virtual asset trading platform under the region’s securities laws.
On Aug. 11, HKVAX announced that it had received an “approval-in-principle” from the SFC to carry out Type 1 and Type 7 regulated activities. The announcement highlighted that a Type 1 license allows the platform to operate a digital asset trading platform that deals with securities, while a Type 7 officially allows the company to provide automated trading services to retail users and institutional investors.
According to the announcement, HKVAX is aiming to offer a product category called security token offerings to leverage Web3 investment opportunities. Once the exchange receives the final approval, it noted that it will offer over-the-counter (OTC) brokerage that allows users to trade between fiat and digital assets, an institutional-grade exchange platform and an insured custody solution.
Anthony Ng, co-founder and CEO of HKVAX, said in the announcement that as the exchange grows, it will continue to expand its product offerings in Hong Kong and work with strategic investors for its next funding rounds.
HKVAX’s announcement comes after Hong Kong debuted crypto retail trading with exchanges HashKey and OSL. On Aug. 3, both firms became the first to obtain the necessary licenses to offer crypto trading services in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong regulators have recently been focused on regulating crypto since the FTX collapse. On June 24, SFC CEO Julia Leung Fung-yee said that crypto trading is an important part of the virtual asset ecosystem after the FTX exchange collapse in 2022. In a speech, Leung said that the new licensing system for virtual asset service providers will ensure that investors are protected as they trade.
Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield has resigned from the Labour Party.
The 53-year-old MP is the first to jump ship since the general election and in her resignation letter criticised the prime minister for accepting thousands of pounds worth of gifts.
She told Sir Keir Starmer the reason for leaving now is “the programme of policies you seem determined to stick to”, despite their unpopularity with the electorate and MPs.
In her letter she accused the prime minister and his top team of “sleaze, nepotism and apparent avarice” which are “off the scale”.
“I’m so ashamed of what you and your inner circle have done to tarnish and humiliate our once proud party,” she said.
Since December 2019, the prime minister received £107,145 in gifts, benefits, and hospitality – a specific category in parliament’s register of MPs’ interests.
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Ms Duffield, who has previously clashed with the prime minister on gender issues, attacked the government for pursuing “cruel and unnecessary” policies as she resigned the Labour whip.
She criticised the decision to keep the two-child benefit cap and means-test the winter fuel payment, and accused the prime minister of “hypocrisy” over his acceptance of free gifts from donors.
“Since the change of government in July, the revelations of hypocrisy have been staggering and increasingly outrageous,” she said.
“I cannot put into words how angry I and my colleagues are at your total lack of understanding about how you have made us all appear.”
Ms Duffield also mentioned the recent “treatment of Diane Abbott”, who said she thought she had been barred from standing by Labour ahead of the general election, before Sir Keir said she would be allowed to defend her Hackney North and Stoke Newington seat for the party.
Her relationship with the Labour leadership has long been strained and her decision to quit the party comes after seven other Labour MPs were suspended for rebelling by voting for a motion calling for the two-child benefit cap to be abolished.
“Someone with far-above-average wealth choosing to keep the Conservatives’ two-child limit to benefit payments which entrenches children in poverty, while inexplicably accepting expensive personal gifts of designer suits and glasses costing more than most of those people can grasp – this is entirely undeserving of holding the title of Labour prime minister,” she said.
Ms Duffield said she will continue to represent her constituents as an independent MP, “guided by my core Labour values”.