ByteDance's Squirrel Securities is still in its infancy – but has obtained a license.
ByteDance applied last December to register a trademark called Songshu Zhengquan, which translates to Squirrel Securities. ByteDance is hiring staff and planning to enter the Hong Kong financial industry.
Squirrel Securities's business mainly include (in Chinese) the provision of financial services such as securities and futures trading services, advice on securities and institutional financing, and asset management services.
A person familiar with the matter said that the business is still in its infancy, and ByteDance currently only retains full-time employee for it.
The source added that the company has already obtained a license, but the official launch of the online stock brokerage business will not proceed immediately. Because the information is not public, the company refused to disclose its name.
After Beijing established a new national security law on the semi-autonomous city, ByteDance pulled itspopular TikTok app out of Hong Kong in July. It is also trying to avoid a ban for TikTok in the United States and is in talks with Microsoft and Twitter to sell its business in the US.