S&PGlobal Ratings has reaffirmed Futu Holdings' investment-grade credit rating, anendorsement that arrives while its share price sits at roughly half the levelit reached late last year.The firmkept Futu's long-term issuer credit rating at BBB- with a stable outlook, thecompany said today (Tuesday). Futu and its subsidiaries carry a stand-alonecredit profile of "BBB."Thedecision follows by less than two weeks a proposed penalty from Chineseregulators that wiped out about a quarter of Futu's market value in a singlesession and pushed reported quarterly profit well below where it stood a yearago.Rating Holds While theStock Trades Far Below Its PeakAccordingto S&P, Futu holds a strong market position in Hong Kong, and its push intonew geographies should help cushion the planned wind-down of its mainland Chinabusiness over the next two years. The agencycalled the company's capitalization very strong and a key support for itscreditworthiness, and said Futu should keep an adequate funding profile as itexpands.Investorshave been less generous. Futu shares trade around $103, down roughly 50% fromthe peak above $200 they reached late in 2025, when the broker posted a 144% jump in third-quarterprofit on the backof booming Hong Kong trading.The stockhas not clawed back the ground it lost on May 22, when it fell about 27.5% asthe penalty news broke.It nowchanges hands well below its main moving averages, with the 50-day line sittingunder the 200-day line, a configuration chart watchers read as a downtrend thathas yet to turn.A Record Quarter Undercutby a One-Time ChargeFor all thepressure on the stock, the business itself kept growing. Futu's first-quarter results showed revenue up 24.7%year-over-year to HK$5.86 billion (US$746.9 million), with total trading volumehitting a record HK$4.15 trillion.Net incometold a different story, falling 61.2% to HK$831 million (US$106 million).Almost all of that drop traces to the proposed penalty, which Futu booked infull as a subsequent event under U.S. accounting rules.Take thecharge out and the picture flips. The company said net income would have beenabout HK$2.92 billion without it, while operating income, which excludes thefine, rose 31.5% to HK$3.53 billion as the operating margin widened to 60.3%from 57.2%."Thisamount does not impact our business fundamentals or financial stability,"Chief Financial Officer Arthur Yu Chen said, adding that the company stays"focused on long-term growth across international markets."Futu added225,000 net new funded accounts in the quarter, lifting the total 34.3% to 3.59million, and Chief Executive Leaf Hua Li said the broker is tracking toward itsfull-year target of 800,000 net newfunded accounts.Client assets climbed 47.2% to HK$1.22 trillion.Beijing's CrackdownReaches Beyond FutuThe penaltyis the sharpest move yet in a campaign that has shadowed cross-border brokersfor years. The China Securities Regulatory Commission and its Shenzhen bureauallege that Futu entities in the mainland and Hong Kong ran securities, fundand futures businesses without the required licenses.Theproposed sanction totals about RMB1.85 billion, made up of roughly RMB470million in confiscated gains and RMB1.38 billion in fines, plus a personal finefor founder and CEO Li Hua. Existingmainland clients face a two-year wind-down during which they can only sell orwithdraw, and Futu has said mainland accounts make up about 13%of its funded total.Futu is notalone. On the same day, regulators signaled similar action against a NewZealand unit of Tiger Brokers, run by UP Fintech Holding, and a Hong Kong entity ofLongbridge Securities. The CSRCfirst flagged Futu and UP Fintech overunlicensed mainland activity back in 2022, when it ordered them to stop taking newmainland clients. Theregulator has framed the latest step as part of a wider effort to rein inoffshore platforms serving mainland investors, saying the unlicensedcross-border activity disrupted market order and warranted tougher enforcement.This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.