Chinese brokerages offering overseas investing services to mainland clients have come under pressure from a regulatory push that seeks to seal off one of the few remaining loopholes in the country’s strict capital controls.
A new regulation coming into force this week from the China Securities Regulatory Commission reiterates the need to prevent “illegal cross-border securities businesses”, building on a multiyear initiative to clamp down on such services.
The measure broadens a ban in December on registering new clients in mainland China, which originally applied to UP Fintech Holding, also known as Tiger Brokers, and Futu Holdings, a brokerage backed by tech giant Tencent, ahead of the regulation’s official publication.