Financials - Asia Pacific: Online broker: manageable regulatory transition, earnings risk largely priced in

Research evidence excerpt

Financials - Asia Pacific: Online broker: manageable regulatory transition, earnings risk largely priced in

Accessible version

Financials - Asia Pacific

Online broker: manageable regulatory

transition, earnings risk largely priced in

Industry Overview

Two-year clean-up of unauthorized cross-border activity 26 May 2026

On May 22, 2026, CSRC and seven other ministries launched a two-year rectification Equity

campaign targeting unauthorized cross-border brokerage activities, while the HK SFC Asia Pacific

separately strengthened KYC and account-control requirements, particularly for Mainland Financials

investor accounts. The new framework prohibits Mainland-facing marketing, account

opening, trading, fund transfers and related transaction services by unauthorized Table of Contents

offshore institutions, while allowing an orderly wind-down of legacy accounts and assets CSRC launches cross-border brokerage

over a two-year rectification period. 2 rectification

Key clarification: location-based, no forced liquidation HK SFC steps up KYC and account controls 2

Policy deep-dive: insights from Futu and Tiger

Our key takeaway from recent updates from Futu and Tiger is that the regime is more 2

updates

manageable than initially expected. The framework appears to be location-based: Mainland

investors face restrictions when physically in Mainland China, but retain full account Penalty: manageable, less than feared 3

functionality when outside Mainland China. Importantly, there is no forced liquidation or Regulatory clean-up: earnings risk largely priced 4

mandatory account closure, and investors may continue holding positions beyond the in

two-year transition period. Enforcement is expected to rely on IP and GPS verification, Initial client reaction: limited near-term 4