China’s ICBC to Impose Restrictions on Some Forex and Commodities Trading

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) announced on October 8, 2021 that it would restrict some retail companies involving in forex and commodities trading and suspend the opening of new accounts for ‘account forex business’, effective October 17. The bank also said that existing customers will be banned from opening new trading positions, effective October 14.

Under the so-called ‘account forex business’, people can trade forex against the yuan for speculative or hedging purposes, but are not allowed to withdraw or transfer the foreign currencies from the trading accounts.

In its announcement, ICBC cited the high risk in global forex and commodities markets these days and urged traders to control risks.

The move follows a range of extended regulatory controls over the domestic cryptocurrency and forex markets. Fazzaco recently reported that China blocked access to CoinGecko, CoinMarketCap and TradingView​.