Licensing

Does your family office need a licence under the SFO? Whether a family office is required to be licensed under the Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO) is determined by reference to three key factors, all of which must be present to give rise to a licensing obligation: the services provided by the family office constitute one or more types of regulated activity; the family office is carrying on as a business; and the business is conducted in Hong Kong. There are two relevant carve-outs from the licensing requirements for asset management under the SFO: services provided solely to the group company (on a wholly owned basis) in respect of the group's assets; and activities...

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has issued a consultation paper on 31 July 2023 seeking public opinion on a revised framework to address money laundering risks (AML) of single family office (SFO). The revised framework introduces a harmonized class exemption for single family offices (SFOs) with specific requirements to ensure that all SFOs are subject to anti-money laundering (AML) controls. A SFO refer to “an entity which manages wealth for, or on behalf of one family and is wholly owned or controlled by members of the same family. Apart from investment activities, SFOs can be involved in philanthropy, managing the family’s legal affairs, education, etc. ...

Hong Kong’s new licensing regime for centralised virtual asset trading platforms (VATPs) under the AMLO (Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance) took effect on 1 June 2023. Under the new regime, all VATPs carrying on a business of operating a virtual asset exchange in Hong Kong or actively marketing their services to Hong Kong investors will need to be licensed by the SFC (Securities and Futures Commission). More than 80 firms have reportedly expressed an interest in applying for a licence in Hong Kong, including Huobi, OKX, Amber Group and Bybit. Under recently finalized rules, crypto firms with SFC licences will be able to offer trading services to...

The Philippines is emerging as the Southeast Asia’s leading nation in distributed ledger technologies (DLT), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and the metaverse due to the lack of a hostile regulatory environment as the key reason for the spike in innovation. Coins.ph has recently granted with the four virtual asset service provider (VASP) licenses by Financial Services Commission of Mauritius, giving it the green light to offer its services covering broker-dealer services, virtual asset wallet services, virtual asset custody, and marketplace offerings. Since the collapse of several centralized digital asset entities like Three Arrows Capital (3AC) and FTX, Mauritius’ regulators...

1. What should I do if I want to apply for a money lenders licence? Step 1 Complete three sets each of the application form and statement form and one set each of the relevant SISs. (Each form must be manually signed). Step 2 Prepare a business plan for the money-lending business (Note). Step 3 Deliver the following documents to the Companies Registry: (a) two sets each of the application form and statement form, one set each of the relevant SISs and a business plan; and (b)(i) evidence of authorisation (if the applicant is a limited company); (b)(ii) a character or business reference (if the applicant is an individual or a partner of a firm). Step 4 Deliver one set...

Hong Kong Money Service Operator licenses on sale. 1. Asking price HK$1.6million. The MSO has local multi-currency bank account Can do cross-border remittance Available for sale at any time Location: retail in a commerical area 2. Asking price HK$1.3 million Similar to the above except without bank account Whatsapp : (852) 6499 4686 Phone : (852) 2186 6936 Email : info@intershores.hk Disclaimer: Whilst reasonable care has been taken in provision of information above, it does not constitute legal or other professional advice. INTERSHORES does not accept any responsibility, legal or otherwise, for any error omission and accepts no responsibility for any...

General Information & Governing Authority Any person operating a money service is required to be licensed with the Commissioner of Customs and Excise pursuant to the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (Financial Institutions) Ordinance, Chapter 615 (AMLO). What is Money Service Operators Service (MSO) ? Money service operators service includes money changing service or a remittance service. A money changing service means a service for exchanging of currencies that is operated in Hong Kong as a business, but does not include such a service: 1. that is incidental to the main business e.g. retail business accepting foreign currencies in transactions. 2. ...