Unlicensed securities platform

Full recovery of the claimed amount through a combination of SFC enforcement cooperation, a Mareva injunction, and coordinated BVI asset freezing. Settlement concluded before formal trial.

Type: Unlicensed securities platform
Jurisdictions: Hong Kong SAR, British Virgin Islands
Claimed loss: $2M – $5M
Duration: 8 months
Legal strategy: SFC complaint; Mareva injunction; BVI correspondent freezing; civil settlement

Case narrative

A corporate treasury engaged an online brokerage advertising institutional forex and commodities execution. The platform operated without an SFC Type 3 licence but accepted Hong Kong–based deposits via an HK corporate bank account. Intake occurred three weeks after the platform blocked withdrawals. We filed simultaneously: an SFC complaint (given the unlicensed-intermediation aspect), a Mareva application at the Court of First Instance, and a freezing mandate to BVI correspondents (the platform's shell parent was BVI-registered). The combined pressure produced a settlement at 100% of the claimed loss, closed via a confidentiality-protected settlement deed.

Takeaway

Institutional-scale losses to HK-touching counterparties remain a strong recovery profile. SFC's enforcement cooperation materially accelerates the civil track where the platform operated without a licence in HK.