As Hong Kong accelerates its efforts to establish itself as an international gold trading hub, popular precious metal investment products such as spot gold and spot silver have attracted considerable attention from retail investors, with investment enthusiasm continuing to rise. UPWAY Global is a well-known and influential trading platform in Hong Kong's gold market, and its legitimacy and legality have naturally become a focal point for many investors. Is UPWAY Global regulated by the Securities and Futures Commission? How can investors verify a platform's legitimacy and legality?

First and foremost, investors need to clearly distinguish between mainland China's financial regulatory system and Hong Kong's financial regulatory framework. Since the two belong to separate regulatory jurisdictions, their regulatory authorities do not overlap. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) is the statutory regulatory body for mainland China's capital markets, responsible for the unified supervision and administration of the national securities and futures markets in accordance with laws and regulations, maintaining market order, and ensuring their lawful operation. UPWAY Global is a trading platform incorporated in Hong Kong and does not fall within the regulatory scope of the CSRC. Therefore, UPWAY Global is not a platform subject to direct regulation by the CSRC.

Then, is UPWAY Global a platform directly regulated by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC)? Within Hong Kong's financial regulatory framework, UPWAY Global's direct regulatory authority is the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society (CGSE), and it holds a Class AA trading license issued by the CGSE. The CGSE is Hong Kong's only statutory exchange for spot gold, spot silver, and precious metals. It is an exchange authorized by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government to exercise market regulatory functions, and serves as the statutory core platform through which the HKSAR Government promotes the internationalization of the gold market. It operates lawfully and operates within a clearly defined regulatory framework.

The powers of the Hong Kong SFC derive from the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571 of the Laws of Hong Kong). Under this ordinance, the SFC only regulates ten specific types of "regulated activities" (such as securities trading and futures contract trading). Spot gold and spot silver are not defined as securities or futures contracts, and therefore the SFC has no legal authority to regulate spot gold and spot silver trading businesses. That said, although the SFC does not directly regulate the CGSE itself, it does oversee certain segments of Hong Kong's gold market and relevant financial institutions.

In summary, although UPWAY Global is not directly regulated by the Securities and Futures Commission, it is a lawful trading platform that operates in a standardized and prudent manner under the strict supervision of the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society — Hong Kong's lawful gold exchange. It can provide investors with security safeguards and professional services for spot gold and spot silver investment transactions conducted in Hong Kong. Investors may verify UPWAY Global's regulatory status, membership qualifications, scope of operations, and business standing through the official website of the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society, thereby confirming the platform's legitimacy and legality.

On the path of precious metal investment, a compliance license is the baseline, and lawful operation is the prerequisite. When selecting a trading platform, investors must remember to choose platforms that are subject to lawful regulation and hold legitimate operating qualifications, ensuring that every transaction and every flow of funds takes place in a fair, just, and transparent environment. Finally, UPWAY Global kindly reminds investors that UPWAY Global is a lawful and compliant trading platform operating under the strict supervision of the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society. Its investment products, including spot gold and spot silver, strictly adhere to Hong Kong's investment compliance standards and relevant legislation. However, they may not fully meet the regulatory requirements of the investor's home jurisdiction, and investors should conduct a prudent assessment before investing.