According to Xinhua and the State Council Information Office, China has given Tiger Brokers, Futu Securities, and Longbridge Securities two years to end unauthorized mainland-facing cross-border brokerage activity.
China’s securities regulator, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said on May 25 it will penalize Tiger Brokers, Futu Securities, and Longbridge Securities for illegal cross-border financial operations targeting mainland investors under a nine-agency implementation plan. According to Xinhua, the brokerages face confiscation of illegal gains and severe penalties, and during a two-year phase-out period they may only process sell orders and capital withdrawals for mainland clients while being barred from accepting new buy orders or capital inflows. After the deadline, they must shut down mainland-targeted websites, trading apps, and supporting servers. The announcement triggered market declines in the affected firms’ shares, with Tiger Brokers’ parent falling more than 10% in premarket trading and Futu Holdings down more than 5%, though one cited report said Futu’s decline reached 35% during the session. The article says the action is aimed at offshore securities activity, but notes possible implications for crypto-related channels that also operate through unauthorized cross-border financial access.