Hong Kong

April 2024 Hong Kong Monetary Authority

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority published 'Risk management considerations related to the use of distributed ledger technology'.

April 2024 Hong Kong Monetary Authority

Keynote speech by Hong Kong Monetary Authority Chief Executive Eddie Yue, given at the International Conference on Central Bank Digital Currencies and Payment Systems held on 11 April 2024.

March 2024 Hong Kong Monetary Authority

Keynote speech by Carmen Chu, Executive Director (Enforcement and AML) at the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, on 'Shaping the future: Managing Financial Crime Risk', given at ALB Pan Asian Regulatory and Anti-Corruption Compliance Summit 2024.

March 2024 Hong Kong Monetary Authority

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority published an Insight 'Stablecoin Issuer Sandbox'.

March 2024 Hong Kong Monetary Authority

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced that it has launched the stablecoin issuer sandbox arrangement.

Tying in with the consultation on the legislative proposal for implementing the regulatory regime for stablecoin issuers, the HKMA wants to leverage the sandbox arrangement to communicate supervisory expectations to parties interested in issuing fiat-referenced stablecoins in Hong Kong, as well as to obtain feedback from participants on the proposed regulatory requirements.

February 2024 Hong Kong Monetary Authority

The circular on expected standards applies to "custodial activities of digital assets (i.e. assets that depend primarily on cryptography and distributed ledger or similar technology), except limited purpose digital token, held on behalf of clients by authorized institutions  and subsidiaries of locally incorporated authorized institutions."

The circular on tokenised products sets out the supervisory standards expected of authorized institutions in the sale and distribution of tokenised products to their customers. It covers "tokenised products which refer to digital representation of real-world assets using distributed ledger or
similar technology, but does not apply to those regulated under the Securities and Futures Ordinance and governed by the relevant requirements issued by the Securities and Futures Commission  and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority from time to time."

See also our articles:

HKMA guidance on digital assets custody: a major step towards enhancing digital trust

Tokenisation of financial products – HKMA supervisory standards

February 2024 Hong Kong Monetary Authority

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority published consultation paper 'Cryptoasset Exposures', which sets out the regulator's proposals for implementing new regulations on the prudential treatment of cryptoasset exposures. Deadline for comments is 6 May 2024.

February 2024 Securities and Futures Commission

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) reminded virtual asset trading platforms (VATPs) operating in Hong Kong that they must submit their licence applications to the SFC by 29 February 2024. Those that fail to do so must close down their businesses in Hong Kong by 31 May 2024 pursuant to the transitional arrangements under the SFC’s regulatory regime for VATPs.

In the notice urging investors to check regulatory status of virtual asset trading platforms, the SFC also reminded investors to trade only on approved platforms, saying "the SFC strongly urges investors to trade virtual assets ONLY on SFC-licensed VATPs because they may leave themselves unprotected by trading on unlicensed platforms."

The SFC also said investors dealing with unlicensed VATPs should make preparations before 31 May 2024 to close their accounts or transfer to a SFC-licensed VATP..

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