Hong Kong warns crypto firms against referring to themselves as “banks”
Hong Kong warns crypto firms against using the word “bank” The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) says only licensed banks can take “deposits.” Using terms such as digital bank, crypto bank and crypto asset bank contravenes the Banking Ordinance. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has warned crypto firms that it’s against the law for any unauthorised company or platform to refer themselves as a “bank”, or deposit-taking businesses. Hong Kong regulation prohibits this, HKMA noted. Only licenced banks can take deposits HKMA’s warning noted that firms taking such an approach to their marketing to the public are contravening the Banking Ordinance. The regulator notified the public to be aware of this fact, while crypto firms were reminded that only HKMA-licensed providers can use the term bank or take deposits from the public. “ Under the Banking Ordinance, only licensed banks , restricted licen...