China’s securities regulator has penalised Tiger Brokers and Futu Securities International for illegally offering domestic investors access to overseas securities trading, in a move to clean up market disorder and crack down on illicit outflows.The two brokerages, along with Long Bridge Securities, would have their ill-gotten gains confiscated and face further punishments, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said in a statement on Friday.The three companies promoted securities trading and handled orders on the mainland without regulatory approval, in violation of the Securities Law, according to the statement.“Such illegal cross-border business operations have disrupted the market order and should be subjected to a heavy crackdown,” the CSRC said.“Going forward, we will continue to crack down on the illegal stockbroking business operated by overseas institutions domestically to fully keep the order and maintain the stability of the capital market.”A Chinese national flag flutters outside the CSRC building in Beijing. Photo: ReutersThe move is the latest effort by the CSRC to clean up China’s capital market, where domestic investors are banned from buying overseas securities except through a few official channels such as the Stock Connect scheme in Hong Kong.