FUTU Holdings, a Hong Kong-based online brokerage, announced Monday that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) have granted a clearing license to its wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary, which will diversify the company’s revenue streams.

With the clearing license and Futu’s proprietary clearing system, the subsidiary, Futu Clearing Inc., will be able to provide clearing, settlement and asset custody services to customers and other introducing brokers in the United States, allowing the tech-driven online platform to capture the full cycle of client trade and maintain custody of its clients’ assets.

The move would further solidify Futu’s foothold in the U.S. market, Li Hua, Futu’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement Monday. “We will also have more flexibility in terms of our product and service offerings, as well as enhanced ability to reduce trading costs for our clients,” Li said.

“Going forward, we will continue to consider obtaining more licenses in order to broaden our core service offerings and expand our global presence,” he added.

The fintech firm went public by listing its initial public offering on Nasdaq on March 8. As of Monday, the company’s market capitalization was valued at US$1.136 billion.(Xinhua)