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The government will enact the new legislation to bring issuers of fiat-referencing stablecoins into the regulatory perimeter.

By Simon Hawkins, Adrian Fong, and Sam Maxson

On 17 July 2024, the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) released the consultation conclusions on their legislative proposal for a regulatory regime governing stablecoin issuers in Hong Kong (Consultation Conclusions). The next day, the HKMA followed with its own press release announcing the first batch…

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Revamped SFC and HKMA guidance applies to intermediaries that distribute products or provide dealing, advisory, and asset management services related to virtual assets.

By Simon Hawkins and Adrian Fong

On 20 October 2023, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) issued a joint circular (Joint Circular) to provide updated guidance to intermediaries conducting virtual asset (VA) activities. The Joint Circular revises a previous joint circular issued on 28 January 2022 (see Latham’s Client Alert).

The need to update the 2022 joint circular emerged after a new regulatory regime for virtual asset trading platforms (VATP) was launched in June 2023, which allowed such platforms to onboard retail investors (see Latham’s Client Alert) for the first time.

Regulators released comprehensive guidance to banks, intermediaries, and insurers on virtual asset-related activities.

By Simon Hawkins and Adrian Fong

On 28 January 2022, Hong Kong’s principal financial services regulators issued much-anticipated guidance to banks, securities firms, and insurers looking to undertake activities related to virtual assets (VAs). In particular:

  • The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) issued a circular to banks on “Regulatory approaches to Authorized Institutions’ interface with Virtual Assets and Virtual Asset Service Providers” (HKMA Circular).
  • The HKMA and

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The HKMA’s discussion paper seeks feedback on its proposed regulatory approach to stablecoins, with responses due by 31 March 2022.

By Simon Hawkins and Adrian Fong

On 12 January 2022, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), Hong Kong’s principal regulator for banks and payment systems, published a discussion paper seeking the public’s views on its proposed approach to the regulation of stablecoins (Discussion Paper). The HKMA outlines its views on the development of stablecoins and proposes questions and its initial outlook for establishing an effective regulatory framework for stablecoin activities in Hong Kong.

The Discussion Paper comes three months after the HKMA issued its technical whitepaper on retail central bank digital currency in October 2021, which considers a proposed architecture for issuing e-HKD. These publications, together with recent consultation conclusions from the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau on implementing a regulatory regime for virtual asset service providers, (see Latham’s blog post), indicate that Hong Kong regulators are moving quickly to create guardrails as financial innovation accelerates.