Overview
- Financial Secretary Paul Chan said the first batch of fiat-referenced stablecoin issuer licenses will be granted next month under Hong Kong’s new regime.
- The government will table a bill this year to create licensing regimes for digital asset dealing platforms and custodial service providers.
- The Securities and Futures Commission will widen product access for professional investors, launch an accelerator, and allow margin financing and derivatives for approved users to deepen liquidity.
- Tokenization will advance as guidance permits debenture holder registers on distributed ledgers and explores electronic signatures and digital bearer bonds, and the HKMA will keep upgrading the EnsembleTX platform for real-time and cross-border tokenized settlement.
- Hong Kong will amend the Inland Revenue Ordinance to adopt the OECD Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework and updated Common Reporting Standard over two years, with a bill expected in the first half of this year.