Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission looks set to allow the launch of exchange traded funds tracking cryptocurrency futures for retail investors, citing the increasing sophistication of investor safeguards.
香港证券及期货事务监察委员会(SFC)似乎将允许推出面向散户投资者的跟踪加密货币期货的交易所交易基金(ETF)，理由是投资者保障措施日益完善。
Julia Leung, deputy chief executive and executive director of intermediaries at the SFC, said the regulator was “actively looking to set up a regime to authorise ETFs that provide mainstream virtual assets with appropriate investor guardrails”.
香港证监会副行政总裁兼中介机构部执行董事梁凤仪(Julia Leung)表示，香港证监会“一直积极研究设立一个制度，藉此向那些可供投资于主流虚拟资产并设有妥善投资者防护措施的ETF给予认可”。
In the initial stages, the SFC will only allow ETFs investing in bitcoin futures and ether futures traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Leung said during her keynote address at Hong Kong FinTech Week last week.
梁凤仪上周在香港金融科技周的主题演讲中表示，在初步阶段，香港证监会将只允许相关ETF投资在芝加哥商品交易所(Chicago Mercantile Exchange)交易的比特币(Bitcoin)期货和以太币(Ether)期货。
The latest communication follows a joint circular from the SFC and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in January this year that said a “limited suite” of products linked to virtual assets could be permitted for Hong Kong retail investors.
在此之前，香港证监会和香港金融管理局(Hong Kong Monetary Authority)今年1月发出联合通函，称可能允许香港散户投资者购买与虚拟资产挂钩的“少数”产品。
Leung characterised the existing professional investor requirement for crypto assets investments as the “elephant in the room”, noting that when the SFC introduced this requirement as part of its virtual assets framework four years ago, the territory’s crypto assets industry was still relatively new.
梁凤仪将现有的针对加密资产投资提出的“仅限于专业投资者”规定形容为“棘手课题”。她指出，当香港证监会4年前将这一要求作为其虚拟资产监管框架的一部分引入时，香港的加密资产行业仍相对较新。