The China Securities Regulatory Commission, together with seven other agencies, has issued a joint plan to comprehensively tackle illegal cross-border securities, futures and fund business conducted by overseas institutions. The plan targets firms that, without approval, use domestic affiliates or partners to solicit investors in China and provide offshore account-opening and trading services through websites and apps. It treats any unapproved onshore marketing, account opening, order handling or fund transfer activity by overseas institutions or assisting domestic parties as illegal and sets a two-year concentrated rectification period to eliminate existing illegal business. The measures ban overseas institutions from carrying out marketing in China, operating websites or trading software for domestic investors, publishing promotional or investment information, offering rebates, inducing subscriptions to offshore stocks, or providing account opening, order transmission and fund transfer services. Internet platforms may not provide promotional support or account-opening access, self-media accounts may not publish referral or tutorial content, and domestic entities may not supply marketing, transaction, technology or customer service support. During the two-year period, existing investors may only execute one-way sell orders and withdraw funds, with no new buy orders or inward transfers. After that period, overseas institutions must shut down domestic websites, trading software and supporting servers and cease illegal trading and related services. Related breaches of cybersecurity, personal information protection, anti-money laundering and foreign exchange rules also fall within scope. The China Securities Regulatory Commission will lead the campaign, with other agencies responsible for areas including online content clean-up, app enforcement, crime investigations, anti-money laundering support, foreign exchange control, market registration and advertising oversight, consumer protection and local implementation. The plan says the cleanup will not affect the safety of investors' assets, requires overseas institutions to make account handling arrangements for affected investors, and directs domestic investors to use lawful channels for overseas investment, including Hong Kong Stock Connect, Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor schemes and Cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect.
China Securities Regulatory Commission2026-05-22
China Securities Regulatory Commission and seven agencies launch a two-year cleanup of illegal cross-border securities futures and fund business
The China Securities Regulatory Commission and seven other agencies issued a joint plan to crack down on illegal cross-border securities, futures and fund business by overseas institutions using unapproved onshore marketing, account opening, trading and fund transfer channels. The plan sets a two-year rectification period during which existing investors may only sell and withdraw funds, bans domestic platforms from providing related support, and requires overseas institutions to shut domestic-facing websites, apps and servers. Authorities will coordinate enforcement and direct investors to authorised channels such as Hong Kong Stock Connect and Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor schemes.