Is it compliant for Chinese users to trade US or Hong Kong stocks on ZA Bank? Today, a little sister asked me a similar question. After thinking for a moment, I realized that it might offend many of my friends, but if I were to say it in a different direction, it would be okay. Firstly, let's talk about ZA Bank itself. ZA Bank is a licensed virtual bank in Hong Kong, regulated by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), and has also obtained the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) Category 1 regulated activity qualification, which is related to securities trading. So from the perspective of Hong Kong's regulatory framework, ZA Bank's provision of banking and securities trading services in Hong Kong is not a grey platform in itself. PS: Tigers, Futu, and Changqiao are all compliant in their respective license issuance locations. But the question has never been whether overseas institutions have licenses overseas, but whether overseas institutions can conduct securities business to Chinese residents within China. Currently, ZA Bank has not found any license within China to conduct securities brokerage business, which is a prerequisite. Therefore, in theory, ZA Bank cannot directly recommend accounts to Chinese residents in Chinese Mainland, channel accounts, market U.S. or Hong Kong stock transactions, or provide cross-border securities services to Chinese Mainland users as the main customers. Then there is the more troublesome part. The official website of ZA Bank states that Hong Kong residents and visitors to Hong Kong can open accounts online. This means that ZA can indeed serve the group of mainland residents who open accounts in Hong Kong. However, if a long-term user in Chinese Mainland continues to buy and sell US or Hong Kong stocks through ZA Bank using the mainland network, mainland funds and mainland identity after the account opening is completed, then this matter will be complicated. For Chinese regulators, the key focus is on: Firstly, is it illegal for overseas institutions to operate within the country. Secondly, does account opening, marketing, traffic diversion, customer service, and transaction instruction processing occur within the territory of China. Thirdly, whether the funds are exported in compliance with regulations. Fourth, whether users bypass domestic cross-border securities investment supervision through overseas accounts. Fifth, will the exchange of tax residency status and CRS information bring about subsequent tax issues. Especially regarding financial issues, we cannot be careless. As I mentioned in the previous tweet, although Chinese residents have an annual foreign exchange quota equivalent to $50000, this quota cannot be used for overseas stock investment. So overall, if a Chinese user is in Hong Kong, opens a ZA Bank account in compliance with Hong Kong rules, has a legal source of funds, and the transaction occurs within the licensed institution system in Hong Kong, then ZA Bank is mainly regulated in Hong Kong, and the China Securities Regulatory Commission may not directly manage this transaction. But if ZA Bank promotes, opens accounts, guides, and processes trading instructions for mainland Chinese users, or if a large number of mainland residents use ZA Bank to buy US and Hong Kong stocks, then ZA Bank is at risk of being monitored or even named by Chinese regulators. The above applies not only to ZA Bank, but also to other Hong Kong banks, Hong Kong securities firms, Singapore securities firms, and US securities firms, which are essentially the same logic. Bitget is here, VIP! Crypto、 US shares CFD， Global Advantage One Stop Layout