SEC Suspends Trading of Hong Kong Blockchain Firm's Stock

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has halted trading of Hong Kong-based UBI Blockchain's stock.

UBI – which, as previously reported by Bloomberg, says it is developing a product tracking system using the tech – will see trading of its stock frozen from 9:30 a.m. ET this morning until Jan. 22, according to a statement from the U.S. regulator.

The SEC said that it was moving to halt trading due to questions about its recent public filings as well as market activity around the company's stock, which according to MarketWatch has seen its price jump more than 2,000 percent in the past year.

The agency explained:

"The Commission temporarily suspended trading in the securities of UBIA because of (i) questions regarding the accuracy of assertions, since at least September 2017, by UBIA in filings with the Commission regarding the company’s business operations; and (ii) concerns about recent, unusual and unexplained market activity in the company’s Class A common stock since at least November 2017."

UBI Blockchain becomes the latest firm to have the trade of its stock frozen by the SEC. In the past few months, the agency has temporarily halted trading around several other firms amid questions about the veracity of their statements.

Those moves were, perhaps, in response to a wave of interest among investors in firms that say they're pivoting toward products and services of the tech. Yet that interest has sparked warnings from some market watchdogs, including the self-regulatory organization FINRA.

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