The SFC published consultation conclusions confirming amendments to the Securities and Futures Ordinance and the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance that bar any person from using titles such as "crypto exchange" or "tokenised assets trading platform" without SFC approval. The restricted list combines product terms, including crypto, digital asset, token and tokenised assets, with venue terms such as exchange, market and trading platform. The list will move into schedules the SFC can amend by subsidiary legislation. The amendments will go to the Legislative Council and take effect six months after enactment.
Why it matters: Most countries restrict who can call itself a bank, and Hong Kong now applies the same rule to crypto trading venues, which shows the industry building safeguards for investors who are not crypto natives. R.M.
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) published its consultation conclusions on 6 November 2026, with a press release and FAQs. The consultation opened on 12 June 2025, closed on 11 August 2025 and drew nine submissions (paras 1, 3).
Purpose. The amendments restrict titles that suggest a business is an SFC-regulated exchange or clearing house or an SFC-licensed virtual asset trading platform (VATP) when it is not, or that imply a link with an established exchange, clearing house or VATP anywhere when there is none (para 1).
Which titles. A restricted title combines a Table A term with a Table B term, or closely resembles such a combination (para 2). Both tables are below. The SFC’s examples include “crypto exchange” and “digital currency trading platform” (FAQ Q5).
Two ordinances. Section 34 of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO) is expanded, and a similar provision is added under Part 5B of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (AMLO) for VATPs and the products traded on them (para 9). Titles under both need approval under both, through a single application (para 11).
Changes after consultation. The list moves into a schedule to each ordinance, which the SFC may amend by subsidiary legislation (paras 4(a), 15). The SFC kept “tokenised assets” despite two objections (para 17), and added no further terms such as “DeFi”, “NFT” or “VATP” (para 16).
Reach and timing. The restriction reaches persons operating or with a physical presence in Hong Kong (para 23). Use without authorisation is a criminal offence (para 15). There is no transition period; the amendments take effect six months after enactment (para 22).
Table B, venue terms, all restricted under both the SFO and AMLO (para 2):
Term
Chinese
clearing centre
結算中心
clearing company
結算公司
clearing facilities
結算設施
clearing house
結算所
clearing platform
結算平台
exchange
交易所
market
市場
trading centre
交易中心
trading company
交易公司
trading facilities
交易設施
trading house
交易行
trading platform
交易平台
Implications
Any Hong Kong firm whose name pairs a crypto or token term with exchange, market or trading platform, and that is not approved, will have to rename within six months of enactment. Two respondents argued that “tokenised assets” lacks an agreed meaning and could cover both tokenised real-world assets and tokenised securities. The SFC answered that the term is “commonly used in connection with products that are essentially securities” and is restricted only when paired with a Table B term (para 17). A firm would need approval to call itself a “tokenised assets exchange”, the SFC’s own example (para 17).
One respondent argued that approval under both ordinances adds cost for small firms; the SFC replied that a single application keeps the increase small (para 11). Rico Leung, the SFC’s Executive Director of Supervision of Markets, said the schedule lets the list follow market terminology (press release).
The rule gives the SFC a faster tool against unlicensed platforms than a licensing case. A firm that uses a restricted title without approval commits an offence on the name alone (para 15), which answers the respondents who asked for stricter enforcement against unlicensed VATPs (para 20). The tool stops at the border: offshore platforms without a Hong Kong presence are outside it (para 23). The bill’s text and the first prosecutions or approvals under the new provisions will show how often the SFC uses it.
Elsewhere in Asia
The State of Play entry on licensing sets out who needs a licence in each market: India registers crypto service providers with FIU-IND for anti-money laundering purposes only, and Singapore licenses digital payment token services under the Payment Services Act 2019. This run found no India or Singapore rule that restricts crypto venue names in the same way. In Hong Kong the change follows the FSTB and SFC conclusions on adviser and manager licensing, which also await a bill.
What to watch
Finalised drafting with the government and the bill’s introduction into the Legislative Council (para 25); commencement six months after enactment (para 22).