Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission Proposes Perpetual Contract Regulatory Framework Limited to Institutional Investors

BlockBeats News, February 11th. Ashley Alder, CEO of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong, stated at the Consensus Hong Kong conference on February 11th that the regulatory agency will issue a "high-level framework" allowing licensed trading platforms to offer perpetual contract products.

Ms. Alder pointed out that initially, such products will only be available to institutional investors and not retail clients. The framework will focus on risk management, requiring platforms to have robust risk control capabilities and ensure a fair trading mechanism for customers.

In addition, the SFC will also allow brokerages to provide financing services to clients with good credit standing, with collateral including securities and virtual assets. Given the high volatility of virtual assets, initially only Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) will be eligible as collateral.

Regarding market-making business, if a platform conducts such services, it must establish an independent market-making department and implement a strict conflict of interest management mechanism. Ms. Alder stated that these measures follow the SFC's roadmap to drive local crypto market development by 2025, aiming to enable compliant institutions to offer a more diverse range of products and services.