OKX participated in the second roundtable meeting on virtual asset company account opening organized by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority

Author: OKX

On June 19, Lennix Lai, the Global Chief Business Officer of OKX, was invited to participate in the second roundtable discussion co-hosted by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) to discuss the opening of bank accounts for Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP).

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 HKMA and various banks have dedicated resources to handle VASP bank account applications and facilitate VASPs' understanding of the requirements needed for the bank account opening process.

At this meeting, the HKMA provided more regulatory guidance and emphasized that while 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 processes for legitimate businesses.

In response, Lennix Lai, the Global Chief Business Officer of OKX, stated: "According to Hong Kong's new VASP licensing regime, any license applicant must first complete a comprehensive external assessment conducted by a qualified third-party consultant, including a thorough review of the applicant's AML, KYC, and procedures to ensure compliance with the government's VASP system requirements. Therefore, we believe that VASPs that have 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 assessment. We have been preparing for the anticipated regulatory requirements under the VASP regime for over a year, including implementing bank-level compliance and control processes and procedures. We are confident in ourselves, and more encouragingly, the regulatory aspects released very positive signals at this meeting."

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