Swiss crypto bank SEBA’s Hong Kong subsidiary has received a full operating licence from the region’s financial regulator, the Securities and Futures Commission. The crypto bank announced this development in an official statement on November 8, 2023.
According to SFC’s website, The licence became active on November 3, 2023, and it allows SEBA to offer its services to institutional and professional investors in Hong Kong.
These services range from offering securities, including virtual assets-related products, such as OTC derivatives and structured products with underlying virtual assets, advising on securities and virtual assets, and conducting asset management for discretionary accounts in both traditional securities and virtual assets.
According to the official statement, securing the licence is a significant milestone for SEBA in its overarching mission to
“secure the future of the global crypto economy.”
SEBA opened an office in Hong Kong in November 2022, a strategic move following the region’s increasing openness to digital asset companies, which stood in stark contrast to the approach taken by mainland China. Earlier this year, in August, the firm announced that it had received in-principle approval from the SFC to offer virtual asset trading services in the region.
The Hong Kong market now joins SEBA’s roster of global locations, which includes Abu Dhabi and the company’s home base in Switzerland.
SEBA Group’s CEO, Franz Bergmueller, expressed the group’s optimism about expanding its services to the location. He stated:
“Hong Kong has been at the centre of the crypto economy since Bitcoin’s inception, and we are very pleased to have added this Hong Kong licence with the full approval from the SFC to our existing licences in Switzerland (FINMA) and Abu Dhabi (FSRA). ”
Bergmueller also noted that Hong Kong’s robust regulatory structure for crypto assets offers “a solid foundation to conduct crypto-related services” and solidifies its status “as a global financial services hub.”
With this achievement, SEBA became the newest entry on the short list of regulated companies offering digital asset services in Hong Kong. Notably, only two firms, Hong Kong-based crypto exchange HashKey and OSL Digital Securities Limited, had previously earned this distinction.
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