Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission and the Accounting and Financial Reporting Council signed a new memorandum of understanding on September 28, extending regulatory cooperation to SFC-licensed virtual asset service providers. The agreement brings crypto firms into a broader oversight framework covering financial and compliance reporting, while also extending audit cooperation beyond traditional listed entities.
The MoU applies to licensed corporations, SFC-authorized funds and registered open-ended fund companies, together with related audit and assurance work performed by their auditors. It establishes mechanisms for information sharing, case referrals, mutual assistance and coordinated inspections and investigations on regulatory matters that fall within both watchdogs’ responsibilities.
The new arrangement replaces a 2021 memorandum signed before the Financial Reporting Council became the AFRC. The next phase will focus on how the two regulators apply the expanded framework to licensed crypto firms and their auditors, with the SFC positioning the agreement as a way to strengthen oversight across a wider range of financial entities and activities.
