China cracks down on rule-bending offshore investments
Finance & economics | Outflows in disguise
China cracks down on rule-bending offshore investments
It wants mainland investors to bet on its own tech dreams not America’s
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Photograph: Getty Images
Jun 28th 2026|4 min read
SOUNDWILL PLAZA in Hong Kong used to host a restaurant dedicated to the Transformers film franchise. The burger buns were stamped with robot faces and the gift shop featured a towering model of Optimus Prime (a robot that can transform into a lorry) striding through a portal. Last year, however, fast food gave way to fast finance. The site was taken over by Futu Securities, a tech-savvy brokerage with over 3.5m clients. Futu boasts it can open a new account in as little as three minutes—about the time it takes to flip a burger.
When the flagship store opened in August, Futu was doing a lorry-load of business. But some of its client accounts have drawn the ire of financial regulators across the border in mainland China, which still maintains strict capital controls. Last month the authorities accused Futu and several similar brokerages of offering services on the mainland without a licence. Futu faces a fine of about $271m and must close illegal accounts within two years. Its shares, listed on America’s Nasdaq Exchange, have lost a fifth of their value since May 21st.
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