TechFlow News: On March 21, according to Hong Kong media outlet Orange News, Mr. Chan Chi-wah, President of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Professionals Association, commented on the controversy surrounding brokers’ requirement for clients to “pre-register designated bank accounts.” He stated that while the regulatory circular proposes establishing a bank account registration mechanism with caps, such an approach may stem from inappropriately applying virtual asset regulatory concepts—such as pre-approval of wallet addresses—to the traditional securities industry.
Chan noted that pre-approval is technically reasonable for virtual assets because blockchain addresses cannot be instantly verified for ownership; however, ownership verification for fund transfers in the traditional securities industry is already achievable via mechanisms such as “matching-name account verification,” rendering blanket restrictions on the number of accounts unnecessary. By contrast, under the European Union’s anti-money laundering (AML) framework, regulatory focus should center on identifying beneficial ownership and detecting suspicious transactions—not on imposing prior restrictions on account numbers. He further recommended that regulators adhere to the “risk-based” principle, concentrate monitoring efforts on unusual fund flows (e.g., “layered transactions”), clarify compliance standards for matching-name accounts, and promote the application of big data and AI in AML surveillance.
