China Moves to Seize Illegal Gains From Futu, Tiger and Longbridge

China began tightening oversight of online cross-border brokerages on Dec. 30, 2022, when the China Securities Regulatory Commission declared Futu and Tiger Brokers’ mainland-facing operations illegal and ordered them to stop soliciting mainland customers and opening new accounts. The platforms had become major conduits for Chinese investors seeking U.S. and Hong Kong stocks. The case matters because Beijing is moving beyond blocking new business to unwinding legacy accounts and repatriating funds, narrowing a long-standing route for offshore investing.

On May 22, 2026, the CSRC issued advance penalty notices to Tiger Brokers (NZ) Limited, Futu Securities International (Hong Kong) Limited and Longbridge Securities (Hong Kong) Limited. The regulator said the firms marketed securities and handled orders in mainland China without licenses and proposed confiscating all illegal gains. Futu disclosed proposed disgorgement and penalties of about RMB 1.85 billion, while UP Fintech said Tiger faced about RMB 411.2 million, taking their disclosed total to roughly RMB 2.26 billion. Longbridge’s amount was not disclosed, and an eight-agency plan set a two-year cleanup period.