HSBC – Coin Network News https://coinnetworknews.com If it's coin, it's news. Mon, 26 Jun 2023 17:49:02 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 Hong Kong’s HSBC Allows Customers To Trade Bitcoin ETFs, Signaling A Shift In Traditional Banks' Stance https://coinnetworknews.com/hong-kongs-hsbc-allows-customers-to-trade-bitcoin-etfs-signaling-a-shift-in-traditional-banks-stance/ https://coinnetworknews.com/hong-kongs-hsbc-allows-customers-to-trade-bitcoin-etfs-signaling-a-shift-in-traditional-banks-stance/#respond Mon, 26 Jun 2023 17:49:02 +0000 https://coinnetworknews.com/hong-kongs-hsbc-allows-customers-to-trade-bitcoin-etfs-signaling-a-shift-in-traditional-banks-stance/

Hong Kong’s leading financial institution, HSBC, has made a significant move by allowing its customers to trade Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). This development marks a notable shift in the stance of traditional banks towards bitcoin, as HSBC has previously been cautious in embracing it.

Reporting by CoinDesk highlighted that HSBC’s decision to enable bitcoin ETF trading for its customers comes after several prior developments that saw other banks also allow such activity. Notably, Samsung Asset Management launched the Samsung Bitcoin Futures Active ETF on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Prior to that, the CSOP Bitcoin Futures ETF launched on the same platform, receiving approximately $53 million in initial investments.

The decision by HSBC to allow its customers to trade bitcoin ETFs comes amidst a surge of institutional interest in bitcoin ETFs in the U.S., potentially igniting a race between countries to attract capital with these products.

The developments are also indicative of the evolving attitudes towards bitcoin among financial institutions. As traditional banks begin to embrace bitcoin, it signals a potential shift towards wider adoption and integration of bitcoin into the mainstream financial system. The merits of this are debatable, but on the surface, that appears to be what these moves signify.

ETFs are popular investment vehicles, and the introduction of Bitcoin ETFs would open up new opportunities for institutional investors to participate in the bitcoin market within a regulated framework. While this comes at the cost of many of the inherent properties that make bitcoin valuable, institutions prefer the rails of regulation and are more likely to be trusting of firms like BlackRock. There are, of course, exceptions to this such as MicroStrategy, a company that holds its own bitcoin. 

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]]> https://coinnetworknews.com/hong-kongs-hsbc-allows-customers-to-trade-bitcoin-etfs-signaling-a-shift-in-traditional-banks-stance/feed/ 0 HSBC and Scotia hit with fines over WhatsApp use https://coinnetworknews.com/hsbc-and-scotia-hit-with-fines-over-whatsapp-use/ https://coinnetworknews.com/hsbc-and-scotia-hit-with-fines-over-whatsapp-use/#respond Fri, 12 May 2023 12:07:06 +0000 https://coinnetworknews.com/hsbc-and-scotia-hit-with-fines-over-whatsapp-use/

Amid the ongoing banking crisis in the United States, financial regulators continue scrutinizing major traditional finance companies like HSBC and Scotiabank.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged HSBC’s securities arm HSBC Securities (HSI) and Scotiabank’s investment subsidiary Scotia Capital with penalties over recordkeeping violations.

HSI agreed to pay $15 million to settle with the SEC, while Scotia Capital agreed to pay $7.5 million. Additionally, Scotia paid $15 million to settle the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission charges.

Announcing the news on May 11, the U.S. SEC said that the banks have failed to meet recordkeeping requirements for dealers registered with U.S. market regulators.

The authorities learned that HSBC and Scotiabank employees — including senior staff — were using unauthorized communication channels like text messages and WhatsApp. The SEC wrote:

“Managing directors and senior supervisors responsible for supervising junior employees themselves failed to comply with firm policies by communicating using non-firm approved methods on their personal devices about the firm’s broker-dealer business.”

According to the regulator, HSI’s failure to implement policies that prohibit such communications led to its failure to reasonably supervise its employees within the Section 15(b)(4)(E) of the Exchange Act.

“Neither firm maintained or preserved the substantial majority of these communications, in violation of the federal securities laws,” the SEC noted.

Related: ​UK banks are turning away crypto clients: Report

HSBC and Scotiabank are just the latest Wall Street firms to face fines due to their employees using personal devices and messaging apps. In September 2022, U.S. authorities reportedly bagged nearly $2 billion in fines in such cases, penalizing firms for talking deals and trades and personal apps. U.S. regulators launched a broad probe into use of personal messengers like WhatsApp by financial firms in 2021.

Both HSBC and Scotiabank are unlikely to be referred to as very cryptocurrency-friendly banks.

In March 2023, HSBC Holdings banned crypto purchases via credit cards for retail customers, joining a growing list of banks to tighten restrictions on digital assets. In 2021, HSBC Group CEO Noel Quinn penned an article opposing crypto and stablecoins, while supporting central bank digital currencies.

While Scotiabank reportedly allows transactions from crypto exchanges, the firm is also known for banning users from buying cryptocurrency. Some online users reported having issues with withdrawing or depositing Bitcoin (BTC) using their Scotia accounts in July 2022.

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