Publishing Verified Trader Performance — Hong Kong Regulatory Overview

How NakedPnL is positioned in Hong Kong under the SFC, the Securities and Futures Ordinance, the AMLO, the SFC Code of Conduct, the VATP regime, and the PDPO.

NakedPnL operates a public registry of verified investment performance produced by individual traders who voluntarily connect read-only exchange API keys or sign on-chain wallet attestations. Daily NAV snapshots feed a time-weighted return (TWR) calculation; results are recorded in an append-only, SHA-256 chained ledger and Merkle-anchored to Bitcoin via OpenTimestamps so any third party can independently re-verify them.

This page describes how that activity is positioned under Hong Kong law, with reference to the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), the Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO, Cap. 571), the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (AMLO, Cap. 615), the SFC Code of Conduct for Persons Licensed by or Registered with the SFC (the Code of Conduct), and the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (PDPO, Cap. 486).

How NakedPnL is classified in Hong Kong

NakedPnL's activity is the production and distribution of factual performance data. The platform is not licensed by the SFC under Schedule 5 of the SFO — not in Type 1 (dealing in securities), Type 2 (dealing in futures contracts), Type 4 (advising on securities), Type 5 (advising on futures contracts), Type 6 (advising on corporate finance), Type 7 (providing automated trading services), Type 9 (asset management), or any other Type. The platform does not appear on the SFC's public register of licensed persons and registered institutions.

Type 4 (advising on securities) and Type 9 (asset management)

Schedule 5 of the SFO defines Type 4 as advising on securities — giving advice on the acquisition, holding, or disposal of securities. The SFC's licensing handbook clarifies that incidental research, factual market commentary, and impersonal information disseminated through publications generally fall outside Type 4 where they do not amount to a recommendation directed at a particular person. Section 392 SFO and the supporting case law confirm the boundary between general information and a recommendation.

NakedPnL does not produce client-specific outputs. The registry shows the same content to every reader of a given page; the platform does not collect a client's financial situation, investment experience, or investment objectives and does not run a suitability assessment. On those facts, the platform's analysis is that its activity does not amount to advising on securities under Type 4.

Type 9 (asset management) covers real estate investment scheme management and securities or futures contracts portfolio management. NakedPnL does not manage any client portfolio. Each trader's reported performance is the result of trading on the trader's own exchange or wallet account; there is no discretionary or non-discretionary mandate.

Code of Conduct paragraph 5 — know-your-client and suitability

Paragraph 5 of the SFC Code of Conduct sets out the know-your-client and suitability obligations of licensed corporations and registered institutions. Paragraph 5.2 requires a licensed person to take all reasonable steps to establish the true and full identity of each client and the client's financial situation, investment experience, and investment objectives. Paragraph 5.3 requires that recommendations or solicitations be reasonably suitable for the client.

These obligations apply to licensed corporations and registered institutions. NakedPnL is neither — and, separately, does not engage in conduct that the Code is designed to capture: there is no licensed-corporation client relationship, no recommendation directed at any specific client, and no solicitation of a transaction. The platform applies its own past-performance disclaimer on every trader profile, consistent with the conservative posture of the Code of Conduct rather than as a regulatory requirement.

AMLO, the VATP regime, and crypto-assets

The AMLO (Cap. 615) was amended by the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Ordinance 2022 to introduce a licensing regime for Virtual Asset Service Providers, in particular Virtual Asset Trading Platforms (VATPs). The regime came into operation on 1 June 2023. A VATP licence under AMLO Part 5B is required to operate a virtual-asset trading platform in Hong Kong or to actively market such a service to the Hong Kong public.

NakedPnL is not a VATP. It does not operate a virtual-asset trading service, does not custody virtual assets, does not match orders, and does not facilitate the exchange of fiat or virtual assets between users. The platform reads daily snapshots from venues that are licensed in their own jurisdictions; users connect with read-only credentials. On those facts, the platform's analysis is that it does not require a VATP licence under AMLO Part 5B.

What NakedPnL does not do

• No copy trading. The platform cannot replicate a trader's positions into another user's account.
• No advising on securities (Type 4). The platform produces general information, not personalised recommendations.
• No advising on futures contracts (Type 5).
• No asset management (Type 9). No discretionary or non-discretionary client portfolio mandates.
• No dealing in securities (Type 1) or futures (Type 2).
• No automated trading service (Type 7).
• No virtual-asset trading platform service under AMLO Part 5B.
• No custody of crypto-assets, fiat, or financial instruments.

These design choices are encoded as feature flags in the codebase and protected by a continuous-integration test that fails the build if any flag is changed.

What Hong Kong users should know

Hong Kong users should treat the registry as factual performance data. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance — a phrase the SFC requires in advertising and marketing materials issued by licensed corporations. NakedPnL applies an equivalent statement on every trader profile.

If a third party offers to manage your money or solicit your investment based on a NakedPnL track record, that party is responsible for its own SFC licensing. Check the SFC's public register of licensed persons and registered institutions before transacting with any firm that holds itself out as authorised. The SFC also maintains an Alert List of unlicensed entities and individuals; verifying both registers before transacting is prudent. NakedPnL does not vouch for any third-party manager.

Personal data: PDPO and PCPD guidance

The Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (PDPO, Cap. 486) regulates the collection, holding, processing, and use of personal data in Hong Kong. The six Data Protection Principles (DPPs) in Schedule 1 govern collection purpose and means, accuracy and retention, use, security, openness, and data access and correction. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (PCPD) issues guidance on cross-border transfers, data breach handling, and direct marketing.

Lawful collection requires a lawful purpose directly related to a function or activity of the data user (DPP1). NakedPnL collects identifying information from users with an account for the purpose of producing the registry; the public listing of a trader's handle and TWR series is the subject of an explicit opt-in. Withdrawing public-listing consent removes the registry entry from public endpoints. Data access and correction requests under DPP6 may be addressed to the privacy contact listed in the privacy notice.

The PDPO does not currently provide a general right to data portability or a statutory right to erasure equivalent to GDPR Article 17, but the platform applies functional equivalents through self-service controls. The PCPD is the supervisory authority and may investigate complaints under section 38 PDPO.

Tax considerations

Hong Kong applies a territorial-source taxation regime under the Inland Revenue Ordinance (Cap. 112). Hong Kong-resident individuals are not generally subject to capital gains tax on personal investment activity that does not amount to a trade. NakedPnL is not a Hong Kong tax intermediary and does not produce tax documents for users. A licensed Hong Kong tax adviser is the right resource for specific questions, particularly around the trade-versus-investment distinction.

Disclaimer variant for Hong Kong

Hong Kong is not currently mapped in lib/jurisdictions.ts; users with a Hong Kong IP fall through to the default disclaimer variant, which presents the standard publisher disclaimer without an EU- or UK-specific notice. The default variant is intentionally conservative and emphasises that NakedPnL is a publisher of verified factual data, not a financial-services provider. A Hong Kong-specific variant may be added once the platform completes a more detailed Hong Kong legal review.

Frequently asked questions