The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has targeted online brokerages for illegal financial activity. Sun Tianqi (???), head of PBOC’s financial stability department, said that some overseas online brokerages that are licensed for business activity abroad had been engaging in operations within China without first obtaining the relevant licenses that are required domestically. “[They] are using Internet platforms to mainly and specifically provide offshore securities investment services to domestic investors, including US share and Hong Kong share transaction services,” said Sun on 27 October at the China Finance 40 Forum. “This is categorised as a ‘cross-border payment…if offshore institutions engage…