On 7 April 2025, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) issued guidance for authorized institutions (and subsidiaries of locally incorporated authorized institutions) and SFC-licensed virtual asset trading platforms respectively, who are interested in providing Staking Services. The guidance outlines the regulatory framework and expected standards for providing Staking Services.
On the same day, the SFC revised its “Circular on SFC-authorized funds with exposure to virtual assets” issued on 22 December 2023 to facilitate SFC-authorized virtual asset funds (SFC-authorized VA Funds) which wish to engage in staking and other virtual asset-related activities.

On 19 February 2025, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) issued a regulatory roadmap for Hong Kong’s virtual asset market. Entitled “‘A-S-P-I-Re’ Roadmap for a Resilient Virtual Asset Ecosystem”, it sets out a five-pillar framework (Access, Safeguards, Products, Infrastructure, and Relationships) that is intended to serve as a strategic action plan for addressing emerging new priorities in the virtual asset space (e.g., managing liquidity fragmentation and ensuring investor protection across decentralized and centralized platforms) and, in the SFC’s words, “future-proof[ing] Hong Kong’s VA ecosystem”.

On 6 December 2024, the Hong Kong government gazetted the Stablecoins Bill, which aims to establish a regulatory regime for issuers of fiat-referenced stablecoins in Hong Kong. This follows public consultations by the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. The Bill aims to introduce a licensing and regulatory framework for FRS issuers and those involved in offering FRS.

On 12 March 2024, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) issued a press release announcing the launch of its new stablecoin issuer sandbox arrangement (“Stablecoin Sandbox”). The Stablecoin Sandbox is another step following the legislative proposal to implement a new regulatory regime for stablecoin issuers. The Stablecoin Sandbox will facilitate communications between the HKMA and interested stablecoin issuers to gauge the expected regulatory standards.

On 8 February 2024, the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau of Hong Kong (FSTB) released a public consultation (“Consultation”) on legislative proposals to introduce a licensing regime (“Proposed Regime”) for providers of over-the-counter (OTC) trading services of virtual assets (VA). The Proposed Regime will be regulated by the Commissioner of Customs and Excise. The Consultation represents the latest step in the city to further enhance the VA regulatory framework as outlined by the Hong Kong Government in its 2022 Policy Statement on Development of VA in Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission’s “Manager in Charge” regime, which aims to heighten senior management accountability within licensed corporations, came into effect in 2017. In a recent disciplinary action, the SFC has reprimanded and fined a licensed corporation HKD 1.75 million and banned its former MIC for Compliance for two months. The Subject LC is licensed under the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Ordinance to carry on Type 9 (Asset management) regulated activity.

The Securities and Futures Commission recently released the Consultation Conclusions on the Proposed Regulatory Regime for Depositaries of SFC-authorised Collective Investment Schemes and the Further Consultation on Proposed Amendments to Subsidiary Legislation and SFC Codes and Guidelines to Implement the Regulatory Regime for Depositaries of SFC-authorised Collective Investment Schemes. Whilst many of the proposals from the 2019 original consultation will be adopted without change, the SFC has refined its approach in several key areas to provide greater clarity to the industry. We summarise the key requirements that will be applicable to RA 13 licensees, the Consultation Conclusions and the new proposals for consultation in the Further Consultation.

The Securities and Futures Commission recently released its Consultation Conclusions on Proposed Enhancements to the Competency Framework for Intermediaries and Individual Practitioners. Changes to the existing Guidelines on Competence and Guidelines on Continuous Professional Training will take effect in January 2022. These changes impact the competence and ongoing training requirements for new and existing Responsible Officers and Licensed Representatives of Licensed Corporations, as well as Executive Officers and Relevant Individuals of Registered Institutions.

Regulators around the world are seeking to strengthen governance frameworks to deter and prevent the perpetuation of employee misconduct and to stem the “rolling of bad apples.”

In this webinar recording, Eunice Tan and Grace Fung from our financial services regulatory team, and Zhao Yang Ng and Sonia Wong from our employment and compensation team discuss and analyze regulatory developments proposed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in meeting these objectives.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) recently released its Consultation Conclusions Paper (“Consultation Conclusions”) on Implementation of Mandatory Reference Checking Scheme (“MRC Scheme”) to Address the “Rolling Bad Apples” Phenomenon.