PANews reported on January 2 that according to the South China Morning Post, industry insiders said that financial services companies in Hong Kong, China are rushing to prepare the basic work to enable retail customers to trade virtual assets in the coming months. Robert Lui, head of digital assets at Deloitte Hong Kong, said, "We have found that many local brokers and fund management companies have sought advice from us on the licensing requirements under the new regulatory system." He added that the authorities may allow retail investors to trade virtual assets with large market capitalization and liquidity. Brokers currently do not need additional specific licenses to provide clients with Hong Kong-listed ETF futures trading services based on Bitcoin and Ethereum. However, Lui added that companies that plan to provide active trading of virtual assets (such as cryptocurrencies and their related futures products) will need additional approval from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission.