Last Updated: Jan 2026

Disclaimer

In order to reproduce the sample below, you will need to have valid credentials for DataScope Select. The source code in this article was simplified for illustration purposes, you can find the full project here.

Overview

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) have received an increasing number of enquiries from intermediaries about distributing virtual asset1 -related products2 (VA-related products) to investors. Intermediaries are also interested in providing virtual asset dealing services3 to their clients.

The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) issued a statement drawing attention to the risks associated with investing in non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and summarizing the legal and regulatory requirements applicable to NFTs.

This follows recent guidance from Hong Kong’s banking, securities, and insurance regulators to financial institutions looking to undertake virtual asset activities

In this article we would like to briefly explain the details about the Joint circular on intermediaries’ virtual asset-related activities and the DataScope Solutions that we offer.

On January 28, 2022, the Securities and Futures Commission (“SFC”) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (“HKMA”) issued a “Joint Circular on Intermediaries’ Virtual Asset Related Activities” (“2022 Crypto Regulation Circular”). This circular sets out the approach to regulating the distribution of crypto assets, comprising of what the circular calls “virtual assets” and “virtual asset related products”, as well as the provision of dealing and advisory services in respect of such assets. In this article, we provide an overview of the updated requirements and the data offerings that we provide in DataScope.

Read more: Joint circular on intermediaries’ virtual asset-related activities

“Virtual assets” refers to digital representations of value which may be in the form of digital tokens (such as utility tokens, stablecoins or security- or asset-backed tokens) or any other virtual commodities, crypto assets or other assets of essentially the same nature, irrespective of whether or not they amount to “securities” or “futures contracts” as defined under the Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO), but excludes digital representations of fiat currencies issued by central banks.

Newer digital assets are based on blockchain or similar technologies:

• Nonfungible tokens
• Cryptocurrency
• Tokens
• Crypto Assets
• Tokenized Assets
• Security Tokens
• Central Bank Digital Currencies

Regulatory Requirement & End User Impact:

Complex product regime:

• Sustainability
• Information &
• Warning statement.

Additional investor protection measure under circular:

• Selling restrictions.
• Virtual asset knowledge.

Clients impacted:

• Retain investors.
• Intermediaries like private banks & equity brokers.
• Global / regional remit

The LSEG DataScope Solutions

1. A list of securities with Virtual Assets as underlying will be provided.
2. The below mentioned solutions will scan your complete portfolio / instrument lists through data source for funds as well as exchange traded products
3. Global exchanges or custom list of exchanges based on clients’ requirements.

We are going to use a csv file as an input, which will consist of two columns:

• Security identifier type: CHR (ChainRIC), ISN (ISIN), CSP (CUSIP) or SED (SEDOL) or RIC (RIC) or File Code (IPC)
• Security identifier

So, in our case, the file companies.csv will look like this: 

With this input file, we will get the following list of fields from DataScope Select.

• RBC Classification.
• Security Description.
• Blockchain Flag (For Funds)
• Cryptoasset Indicator Flag
• Cryptocurrency Flag (For Funds)

We are going to use the following DataScope Select templates:

• Terms and Conditions

Thus, we are going to establish a connection to DataScope Select, read the companies.csv input file, then extract these fields from terms and conditions report template within DataScope Select.

Code

Prerequisites

In order to start working with the DataScope Select .NET SDK you will need to download the latest SDK, extract it, copy the following files into your solution folder and reference them in your IDE:

• Microsoft.OData.Client.dll
• Microsoft.OData.Core.dll
• Microsoft.OData.Edm.dll
• Microsoft.Spatial.dll
• Newtonsoft.Json.dll
• DataScope.Select.Core.RestApi.Common.dll
• DataScope.Select.RestApi.Client.dll

For more information on how to install the SDK have a look at the DSS .NET SDK tutorial 1.

Connecting to the server

Firstly, we need to establish a connection to DataScope Select host and get a token. 

The code sends the HTTP POST request message with the username and password to the https://selectapi.datascope.lseg.com/RestApi/v1/Authentication/RequestToken endpoint.

If the credential is valid, the HTTP response will contain a token. 

Reading the input file

Once the connection to the host is established, our app will read the companies.csv input file, parse it and create an InstrumentIdentifier list.

Creating an array of field names

We are going to extract the following fields from the Terms And Conditions report template.

• RIC
• Ticker
• File Code
• Exchange Code
• Blockchain Flag
• Cryptoasset Flag
• Cryptocurrency Flag
• Asset SubType
• Asset SubType Description
• Refinitiv Classification Scheme
• Refinitiv Classification Scheme Description

Thus, we create an array of these field names.

Extracting Data

Now, we have an instrument list and an array of fields. Let us use the TermsAndConditionsExtractionRequest object to extract data for all instruments.

The code sends the HTTP POST request message with the following content in the body to the https://selectapi.datascope.lseg.com/RestApi/v1/Extractions/ExtractWithNotes endpoint.

The raw HTTP response contiains the extracted data and the Notes information. 

Parsing and displaying content

The .NET function returns the ExtractionResult object which contains extracted data and Notes information. The following code is used to parse and display the data and Noted information. Moreover, the extracted data is written to an output file (output.csv). 

Run the example

The example accepts four optional parameters.

The output when running the example is:

Summary

DataScope Select provides fields that indicate if the instruments are related or linked to cryptocurrencies or blockchain technologies. These fields are available in the Terms And Conditions report template which can be extracted via DataScope Select Web GUI and DataScope Select REST API. This article explains the details of the Joint circular on intermediaries’ virtual asset-related activities and the DataScope Solutions that we offer. It also provides the example that uses DataScope Select .NET SDK to extract this information from DataScope Select. 

References

1. Apps.sfc.hk. 2022. Joint circular on intermediaries’ virtual asset-related activities. [online] Available at: <https://apps.sfc.hk/edistributionWeb/gateway/EN/circular/doc?refNo=22EC9> [Accessed 31 August 2022].
2. Apps.sfc.hk. 2022. SFC reminds investors of risks associated with non-fungible tokens. [online] Available at: <https://apps.sfc.hk/edistributionWeb/gateway/EN/news-and-announcements/news/doc?refNo=22PR34> [Accessed 31 August 2022].