After two months of consultation on the licensing of virtual asset trading and custody services in Hong Kong, there is no transition period, and the maximum imprisonment for operating without a license is 7 years

According to Hong Kong media Ming Pao disclosed that the Hong Kong Securities Supervision Commission and the Finance and Treasury Bureau have announced a consultation document to set up a digital asset (i.e. virtual asset) trading and custody service provider licensing system, the document mentions that it is intended to require the operation of virtual asset services, whether it is small such as virtual currency transactions, withdrawals, exchange of fiat currency, complex such as brokerage activities, large-hand transactions must apply for a license from the Securities Regulatory Commission, which is equivalent to the virtual property over the counter (OTC) platform into the supervision, and the requirements are much stricter than the requirements for the virtual property OTC platform to apply for a license from the customs when consulting last year. At the same time, the consultation paper also mentions that there is no transitional period or the practice of being considered licensed when the law comes into effect. Operators who do not comply with the requirements will have to close down immediately. If they operate without a license, they can be fined up to $5 million and imprisoned for seven years.