Hong Kong securities regulator issues in-principle approval to HKVAX
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.
Related: Hong Kong securities regulator warns of ‘criminal’ activity by unlicensed exchanges
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.
Magazine: China’s blockchain satellite in space, Hong Kong’s McNuggets Metaverse: Asia Express
Politics
MP Zarah Sultana who was ousted from Labour announces she is starting new political party with Jeremy Corbyn
An MP who was ousted from the Labour Party has announced she is setting up a new political party with Jeremy Corbyn.
Independent MP Zarah Sultana said she and the former Labour leader will co-lead the new party, which she did not provide a name for.
She said other independent MPs, campaigners and activists from across the country will join them, but did not name anyone.
Politics latest: Zarah Sultana’s stinging resignation letter
Ms Sultana also said she was “resigning” from the Labour Party after 14 years.
She was suspended as a Labour MP shortly after they came to power last summer for voting against the government maintaining the two-child benefit cap.
Several others from the left of the party, including Mr Corbyn, were also suspended for voting against the government, and also remained as independent MPs.
However, Ms Sultana was still a member of the Labour Party – until now.
Mr Corbyn has previously said the independent MPs who were suspended from Labour would “come together” to provide an “alternative.
The other four are: Iqbal Mohamed, Shockat Adam, Ayoub Khan and Adnan Hussain.
Mr Corbyn and the other four independents have not said if they are part of the new party Ms Sultana announced.
In her announcement, Ms Sultana said she would vote to abolish the two-child benefit cap again and also voted against scrapping the winter fuel payment for most pensioners.
Ms Sultana also voted against the government’s welfare bill this week, which was heavily watered down as Sir Keir Starmer tried to prevent a major rebellion from his own MPs.
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Protesters block Israeli arms manufacturer in Bristol
On Wednesday, Ms Sultana spoke passionately against Palestine Action being proscribed as a terror organisation – but MPs eventually voted for it to be.
She said to proscribe it is “a deliberate distortion of the law to chill dissent, criminalise solidarity and suppress the truth”.
Ms Sultana said they were founding the new party because “Westminster is broken but the real crisis is deeper – just 50 families now own more wealth than half the UK population”.
She called Reform leader Nigel Farage “a billionaire-backed grifter” leading the polls “because Labour has completely failed to improve people’s lives.
Ms Sultana called Nigel Farage a ‘billionaire-backed grifter’. Pic: PA
The MP, who has spoken passionately about Gaza, added: “Across the political establishment, from Farage to Starmer, they smear people of conscience trying to stop a genocide in Gaza as terrorists.
“But the truth is clear: this government is an active participant in genocide. And the British people oppose it.
“We are not going to take this anymore.”
A Labour Party spokesperson said: “In just 12 months, this Labour government has boosted wages, delivered an extra four million NHS appointments, opened 750 free breakfast clubs, secured three trade deals and four interest rate cuts lowering mortgage payments for millions.
“Only Labour can deliver the change needed to renew Britain.”
Roman Storm is scheduled to appear in a New York courtroom for his criminal trial on July 14, facing money laundering and conspiracy charges.
The Wyoming Senator seeks to end double taxation and add clarity to the tax treatment of crypto staking, mining, and lending transactions.
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