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Financial regulation

Financial regulation
Key developments in regulation of financial markets with a focus on those in Hong Kong and mainland China.
Polar Tensor, a cryptocurrency investment platform, has opened an office at One Hysan Avenue in Causeway Bay. Photo: Getty Images
Polar Tensor’s Causeway Bay office was locked when an SCMP reporter visited in October. Photo: Silvia Siu
Hong Kong economy

Crypto platform on alert lists opens Hong Kong office, prompting calls for scrutiny

Experts say regulators’ alert listings do not prove wrongdoing, but urge a balance between business openness and scrutiny of firms’ marketing.

Hong Kong stock market

Market sell-off, tax scrutiny and growth: key figures shaping investor sentiment

Banking & finance

Beijing tightens rules on outbound capital to better shield Chinese assets

Banking & finance

Despite greater oversight, China’s investors continue pivot to offshore assets

Property values and low bank deposit rates in China are fuelling demand for wealth management alternatives, Moody’s says.

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Chinese households are increasingly shifting assets away from real estate and bank deposits. Photo: Shutterstock
Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA)

Hong Kong targets financial innovation to help ease economic ‘pain points’

Hong Kong must work closely with partners in mainland China and across the Asia-Pacific to meet collective challenges, HKMA head says.

Mainland China

China expands tax workforce as tougher enforcement moves into spotlight

Recruitment drive for tax officers comes amid tougher scrutiny of corporate taxes and offshore wealth structures.

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Wealth management

China targets offshore trusts in widening push for taxes

Wealthy individuals faced a Thursday deadline to make tax payments tied to offshore trusts as a grace period came to an end.

Photo: Dickson Lee
China GDP

In Focus | Beijing wants more than GDP growth from local officials. Can they adapt?

Cadres at lower levels are juggling a complex set of priorities from Beijing – while still searching for new sources of growth.

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China economy

Opinion | China’s offshore tax crackdown could inadvertently fuel a digital dollar boom

Rich Chinese may now be more motivated to explore dollar-linked digital assets, which are globally plentiful and portable, although access to them is restricted in mainland China.

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Wealth management

China eases uncertainty over offshore trust taxes before grace period ends

New guidance exempts some offshore stock incentive trusts after an executive ‘successfully’ appeals tax treatment.

A 90-day grace period before mainland China’s new tax rules on offshore trust gains are enforced expires on Thursday. Photo: Dickson Lee
Greater Bay Area

Can China unlock the Greater Bay Area’s tech potential through finance?

New guidelines aim to ease cross-border financial barriers and strengthen links between investors, tech firms and research institutions across region.

A view of Hong Kong’s dense urban skyline, captured from The Peak. Photo: Dickson Lee
Banking & finance

HKMA to swap jobs of 2 deputy heads as part of succession planning: sources

Deputy chief executives Darryl Chan and Howard Lee will take over each other’s roles next month.

Banking & finance

China’s shoring up of capital markets leaves investors nonplussed

Measures to inject liquidity in A-share market and backstop the bond market are signs regulators see ‘big bang’ intervention as unnecessary.

Singapore

Singapore vs Hong Kong: who’s likely to win race for stablecoin dominance?

Singapore is boosting infrastructure while Hong Kong is betting on banks – but ultimately, practicality will decide the winner, experts say.

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Attendees pass cryptocurrency signage at the Token2049 crypto conference in Singapore on October 1, 2025. Photo: Reuters
ETFs

China plans 18 active ETFs as regulator seeks to shore up stock market

Beijing’s securities regulator also vows tougher action against misconduct and outlines four measures to create a healthy market.

Wu Qing, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, speaks at the opening of the 2026 Financial Street Forum on Monday. Photo: Getty Images
China property

Mainland Chinese are still driving Hong Kong’s property market despite 20% tax

After a sharp drop, Hong Kong residential property transactions rebounded by 18.5% in September, with the total value rising by 29.3%.

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Mainland China

Financial Street Forum forecast: more opening up by China regulators

Visa’s long-awaited nod for a local card-clearing business raises hopes for more measures allowing deeper participation.

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IPO

Hong Kong’s IPO fraud clampdown sends shock waves across financial sector

The tougher scrutiny is forcing the capital market to recalibrate, as sponsors become more cautious and some firms cancel listings.

Hong Kong’s securities regulator has tightened scrutiny over initial public offerings in recent months. Photo: Nora Tam
US-China relations

Bank of America fined US$1.21 billion for suspected Chinese money laundering

Second-largest US bank failed to report hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of transactions linked to Chinese money-laundering networks.

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Banking & finance

What does the historic Bank of America fine mean for US-China capital streams?

Analysts say penalties signal tighter scrutiny over cross-border financial flows.

People’s Bank of China (PBOC)

Long before his Nobel win, Michael Woodford was influencing China’s central bank

In a 2005 speech in Beijing, Woodford said China needed stronger economic research and better economic training.

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Nobel Prize winner Michael Woodford instructs students in his Cognitive Mechanisms and Economic Behavior course at Columbia University in New York on Monday. Photo: Columbia University via AP
Hong Kong stock market

Hong Kong watchdog freezes US$590m of assets over alleged IPO fraud schemes

The SFC has also suspended 65 listing applications so far this year, as regulator looks to strengthen market quality in the city.

The logo of the Securities and Futures Commission is seen at its office in Quarry Bay on September 23, 2026. Photo: Karma Lo
Chinese offshore investment

Why Haidilao’s US$14.9m credit line to founder is fuelling China tax speculation

Hotpot chain says funds are for personal financial arrangements, but the loan comes ahead of Beijing’s offshore trust tax deadline.

China stock market

China to curb futures quant trading to contain risks amid stock slump

Country’s five futures bourses propose rules to define specific violations, punishments as top policymakers emphasise market stability.

Banking & finance

‘Enormous opportunity’ to make Shanghai a top financial hub: Goldman president

Wall Street executive John Waldron urges clearer rules, fewer restrictions on data flow to build Shanghai into top financial hub.

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John Waldron, the president of Goldman Sachs, in New York City. Photo: Reuters
Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF)

Is Hong Kong’s MPF an ‘offshore trust’? Shanghai tax officials seem to think so

China’s push to tax offshore trusts is supposed to target the super-rich. So why are mainland officials asking me about my Hong Kong MPF?

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Thousands of Hongkongers work in mainland China, where tax officials are tightening rules related to cross-border income. Photo: Dickson Lee
Banking & finance

Finance or gambling? Prediction markets seek regulatory clarity in Asia

Industry participants call for regulation as financial products while trying to distinguish the platforms from gambling.

Wealth management

Hong Kong banks set lures for golden week visitors despite new levies

Lenders are confident the mainland-related wealth business will remain a pillar for the industry regardless of Beijing’s tax crackdown.

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