On May 22, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) and seven other departments jointly issued the "Implementation Plan for Comprehensive Rectification of Illegal Cross-border Securities, Futures, and Fund Business Activities".
On May 22, the China Securities Regulatory Commission and seven other departments jointly issued the "Implementation Plan for Comprehensive Rectification of Illegal Cross-border Securities, Futures, and Fund Business Activities." The plan explicitly prohibits overseas institutions from engaging in marketing and solicitation activities related to securities, futures, and fund business within China, as well as providing related services such as account opening, transaction order processing, and fund transfers. It also forbids relevant domestic entities from assisting overseas institutions in illegally providing marketing and transaction services, as well as offering services such as website development and operation, transaction software development and operation, and customer service.
Meanwhile, severe penalties were imposed on Tiger Brokers, Futu Securities, and Changqiao Securities in accordance with the law. Among them, Futu Securities was fined RMB 1.85 billion, and Tiger Brokers was fined and had RMB 410 million confiscated (including illegal gains of RMB 103 million).
For existing customers, a two-year centralized rectification period is set up in the plan, during which overseas institutions are prohibited from illegally providing services such as buying transactions and transferring funds into China for existing investors. Only one-way selling transactions and transferring funds out are allowed.
Upon the expiration of the centralized rectification period, overseas institutions shall fully shut down their domestic websites, trading software, and supporting servers, and are prohibited from illegally providing services such as trading within China for existing investors.
Affected by this, the stock prices of Tiger Brokers and Futu fell immediately. As of the close on May 22, Tiger Brokers saw its intraday maximum decline exceed 40%, and Futu Holdings was not spared either, with its stock price experiencing a maximum decline of over 30%.
According to statistics, by the end of 2025, the number of domestic investors participating in Hong Kong and US stock trading through "illegal platforms" such as Futu, Tiger Brokers, and Changqiao had exceeded 5 million.
The annual transaction volume of these investors has exceeded RMB 1 trillion, and the existing capital stock accumulated on these platforms ranges from RMB 200 billion to RMB 400 billion.
For existing investors, they are "only allowed to sell and not buy" within two years, which basically means that the liquidity of these funds has been largely frozen.
Taking into account the pace of industry rectification, a clear timeline for tightening measures can be predicted:
From the second half of 2026 to 2027, the platform's functions will be gradually reduced, the review of large-value fund transactions will become stricter, and various permissions will continue to be restricted.
By the end of 2027, the vast majority of transaction assistance functions will be shut down, leaving accounts in a semi-paralyzed state.
The transition period will conclude in May 2028, and all channels for overseas securities firms in the mainland will be fully closed, with no exceptions.
Objectively speaking, the comfortable window for ordinary people to manage their US stock positions with ease is only about a year left.
What should I do if I still want to speculate on US stocks?
Will this regulation block our path to investing in US stocks?
The answer is no, but in the future, there will only be two types of players left in the market:
One is ordinary people who completely withdraw from overseas markets and take root in domestic compliant channels.
With the comprehensive clearance of cross-border Internet securities brokerage channels, the currently available legal paths for domestic investors to continue participating in the US stock market mainly include: QDII funds, cross-border ETFs, Hong Kong Stock Connect, and China-Hong Kong Mutual Recognition Funds.
However, these tools have significant limitations in practical operations and can only achieve "partial substitution", far from being able to construct true exposure to the entire US stock market. For example, QDII fund quotas are tight, and popular products are subject to long-term purchase restrictions; Hong Kong Stock Connect allows the purchase of Chinese companies but not Apple, Google, or NVIDIA.
For ordinary people, choosing such channels means accepting the reality of "being able to invest, but not fully; being able to buy, but at a high price".
Another group consists of highly knowledgeable individuals who have obtained compliant status and legally retained trading privileges for US stocks.
In response, a forward-looking approach is to plan for legal overseas residency status as early as possible and simultaneously optimize global tax status. Prioritize choosing countries or regions that levy taxes regionally, have low tax rates, and are relatively friendly to the CRS system as the future subject of financial and investment management.
After obtaining a compliant status, trading US stocks legally through overseas licensed securities firms is no longer a "grey arbitrage" but a compliant global asset allocation behavior.
So, which identity paths are truly feasible? How to balance taxation, compliance, and investment convenience? If you want to know specific plans, please consult Qiaowai, who will provide you with one-on-one global identity and asset services
