Futu and Up Fintech, also known as Tiger Brokers, said the move was to comply with the Chinese securities regulator’s requirements on cross-border brokerage businesses. — Reuters
HONG KONG: China is taking a tougher stance on capital flows out of the country, as the nation’s two leading cross-border online brokerages decided to remove their trading platforms from app stores in the mainland.
Futu Holdings Ltd and Up Fintech Holding Ltd, also known as Tiger Brokers, said Tuesday that the move was to comply with the Chinese securities regulator’s requirements on cross-border brokerage businesses.
Futu’s app Futubull will be removed tomorrow, and Tiger Brokers’ app will be taken off today.
Existing clients in mainland China can continue to use the apps to make trades, and users outside of the country won’t be affected, the brokers said.
Futu and Up Fintech have been operating in a gray area for their mainland China businesses, allowing millions of local investors to evade capital controls to trade shares in markets such as Hong Kong and New York.
China has increased scrutiny of operations that could risk financial stability and national security in recent months.
This is especially as relations with the United States worsened and demand rose among mainlanders to move wealth offshore as China reopened from Covid zero. — Bloomberg
