The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has issued an official statement strongly condemning Saxo Financial (Hong Kong) Limited (Sxo Financial) and imposing a fine of HK$4 million for deficiencies in its distribution of non-SFC-approved virtual asset funds and virtual asset products on its online trading platform (the online platform). The SFC's investigation found that between November 1, 2018, and November 25, 2022, Saxo Financial executed 1,446 transactions involving 32 virtual asset products for six professional investors and 130 retail clients on its online platform. However, prior to executing these transactions, Saxo Financial failed to assess whether its clients possessed the knowledge to invest in virtual asset products, nor did it provide clients with sufficient information or specific warning statements regarding virtual assets, thus failing to comply with the guidelines set out in the two SFC circulars.