And what happens when they shut down their HK operation?
Well, I assume they won't do it in one day... surely there will be an option either to transfer the securities or unwind the positions...
Well, I think the risk of them shutting down their HK operations, once they opened them, is probably not very high. They went through the trouble of SFC's licensing and approval process, as well as developing the registration workflow (technical and administrative) for HK clients. Non-trivial investment, and probably well justified given that both locals and gwailos like to invest. It's worth noting that your money/securities will actually be held in the US of A and not in HK, from what I understood through their web site.
What is their chances of default? It's an important question, I don't have a good answer. They have been around for 40+ years and are pretty large in the US, which is encouraging. There is some regulatory oversight and deposit protection etc. Not 100% guarantee, of course.
As long as you're aware of the risks and not just punting because they're a few $s cheaper than HSBC / IB or whatever else is out there... thats an informed decision and your call.
Was there a sad and informative story?Original Post Deleted
What about their operations in other markets?Original Post Deleted
Edit: were they licensed? SFC seems to differ:
https://www.sfc.hk/edistributionWeb/...?refNo=17PR124
I saw that one actually. At that time they were not licensed and probably got scared by ETrade debacle.
Don't get me wrong, I don't want to sound like their salesman. I'm actually grateful for you bringing this additional risk to my attention. I'll think carefully before putting any substantial money into it. Luckily, my current investment strategy doesn't call for any substantial trading before markets fall further