OKEx participated in the second roundtable meeting on virtual asset company account opening organized by the Hong Kong Financial Services and Treasury Bureau.

Source: Ouyi OKX

On June 19th, Lennix Lai, the Global Chief Business Officer of Oukei OKX, was invited to attend the second roundtable meeting jointly organized by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong to discuss the opening of bank accounts for virtual asset service providers (VASPs).

The second roundtable meeting is a positive signal from the Hong Kong government regarding the regulation and development of the virtual asset industry in Hong Kong. Since the first roundtable meeting held in April, Hong Kong has made good progress in regulation, as the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and various banks have dedicated resources to handle bank account applications for VASPs and promote their understanding of the requirements for the bank account opening process.

This time, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority provided more regulatory guidance at a roundtable meeting, emphasizing that although it is important for banks to conduct customer due diligence on account applicants for anti-money laundering (AML) internal controls, banks should not impose excessive burdens on the account opening procedures of legitimate enterprises.

Regarding this, Lennix Lai, the Chief Commercial Officer of OKX, stated: "According to the new VASP licensing system in Hong Kong, any license applicant must first complete a comprehensive external evaluation conducted by a qualified third-party consultant, including a comprehensive review of the applicant's AML, KYC, and procedures to ensure compliance with the government's VASP system requirements. Therefore, we believe that VASPs who have already submitted license applications to the SFC should be eligible to immediately initiate the bank account opening process, as they have demonstrated their commitment to high standards of compliance and internal controls by completing the evaluation. We have prepared for more than a year for the expected regulatory requirements under the VASP system, including implementing bank-level compliance and control processes and procedures. We are confident in ourselves, and more encouragingly, the regulatory side has released very positive signals at this meeting."

Since the Hong Kong regulatory authorities expressed their active embrace of Web3, industry builders have been working together with regulators to help Hong Kong become a global digital asset center. As a part of this effort, OKX hopes to contribute to the compliant development of the Web3 industry together with the SFC, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, and the banking industry, creating a safer and more compliant market environment for investors and users.

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