Online Brokers Futu and UP Fintech to Face Regulatory Risks in China

Futu Holding and UP Fintech Holding, two US-listed Chinese online brokerages, are reportedly set to face regulatory risks due to forthcoming China’s personal data privacy law, which aims to regulate cyberspace and safeguard national security.

​“Since our founding, Futu has insisted that the protection of personal information and data is of top priority. Futu has been strictly complying with relevant laws and regulations. Going forward, we will continue to actively cooperate with regulatory authorities to better safeguard personal information," Futu made a statement in response to the event.

In fact, Futu and UP Fintech are not the only companies in danger of falling foul of the law. Snowball Securities was also named in the article of People's Daily for failing to comply with the new data privacy rules.

China has made continuous efforts on strengthening the supervision of its financial market in recent years. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), for example, said last week that it will impose some limits on FX and commodities trading related retail enterprises​. "Risks are significant these days in global forex and commodities markets," the bank said, "therefore please pay attention to risk management."