The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Fee has issued a restriction discover freezing property value as much as HK$125.247 million in a consumer account at Futu Securities Worldwide Restricted as a part of an ongoing investigation into suspected IPO share manipulation.
In accordance with the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Fee (SFC), the restriction applies to property held by a sure entity suspected of taking part in a fraudulent scheme designed to create a false or deceptive look of demand for shares in an preliminary public providing.
The regulator mentioned Futu isn’t the topic of its investigation and pressured that the restriction discover won’t have an effect on the brokerage or any of its different shoppers. The motion targets a particular buyer account and prevents the property from being moved whereas the investigation continues.
SFC has restricted entry to the property
Underneath the discover, Futu should not eliminate, switch, course of, or in any other case take care of the property held within the affected buyer account with out first acquiring written consent from the SFC. The restriction covers property as much as HK$125,247,000.
The regulator additionally instructed the brokerage to instantly notify it if it receives any directions referring to the restricted property. As well as, Futu should not help, encourage, or trigger one other social gathering to take care of these property until the regulator has given prior written approval.
Explaining the choice, the SFC mentioned issuing the restriction discover is fascinating within the pursuits of traders and the general public. The investigation into the suspected scheme stays ongoing.
In accordance with the regulator, the restriction discover was issued below Sections 204 and 205 of Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Ordinance.
Futu has not been accused of wrongdoing
Whereas the restriction discover entails an account maintained at Futu Securities Worldwide (Hong Kong) Restricted, the SFC made it clear that the brokerage itself isn’t below investigation.
The regulator additionally acknowledged that the order won’t have an effect on the agency’s day-to-day enterprise or the accounts of its remaining prospects.
Futu is licensed below Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Ordinance to conduct a number of regulated actions, together with securities dealing, futures contracts dealing, leveraged overseas trade buying and selling, advising on securities, advising on futures contracts, offering automated buying and selling companies, and asset administration.
The most recent regulatory motion due to this fact relates solely to the suspected conduct of a single consumer entity slightly than the agency’s licensed operations.
Though the regulator disclosed the worth of the restricted property and the suspected nature of the scheme, it didn’t establish the shopper entity concerned or present additional particulars in regards to the alleged conduct.
No enforcement motion has been introduced towards Futu, and the SFC has not indicated when its investigation might conclude.
For now, the restriction discover stays in impact, stopping the affected property from being dealt with with out regulatory approval whereas investigators proceed analyzing the suspected try to create synthetic demand for IPO shares.
Futu has expanded its crypto companies in Hong Kong
The restriction discover comes after Futu expanded its digital asset enterprise below Hong Kong’s regulated digital asset framework.
In June 2026, the brokerage acquired approval from the SFC to increase its Sort 1 licensed actions, permitting eligible shoppers to make use of securities-backed financing for digital asset buying and selling. The approval made Futu the primary brokerage in Hong Kong to offer financing for cryptocurrency transactions backed by conventional securities.
Underneath that association, certified traders grew to become in a position to make use of securities held in typical margin accounts as collateral to acquire financing for crypto trades, eradicating an earlier limitation that prevented such credit score amenities from getting used for digital asset transactions.
The approval adopted one other crypto-related rollout accomplished in Could 2025, when Futu launched deposit companies for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether. Eligible traders had been allowed to deposit these digital property by the agency’s buying and selling platform and commerce them alongside Hong Kong, U.S., and Japanese shares, exchange-traded funds, choices, bonds, and different funding merchandise from a single account.
On the time, Futu mentioned the service allowed customers to maneuver extra simply between digital property and conventional monetary merchandise by the identical buying and selling interface. The brokerage had already launched cryptocurrency buying and selling in 2024 after securing regulatory approval to supply digital asset companies to retail {and professional} traders.
Hong Kong authorities have continued increasing the town’s regulatory framework for digital property by new licensing proposals protecting digital asset advisory and portfolio administration companies, alongside the present oversight of buying and selling platforms, custody suppliers, and stablecoin issuers.
