HONG KONG - 31 October 2022 - Hong Kong’s Financial Services and Treasury Bureau (FTSB) issued a Policy Statement on Virtual Assets (the “Statement”) at the opening of the city's flagship tech conference Hong Kong FinTech Week on 31 October 2022. The Statement sets out the Government's policy stance and approach towards developing a vibrant sector and ecosystem for virtual assets, hoping to build Hong Kong into a global hub for virtual assets (VA).
The Statement says, “Hong Kong shows signs of a vibrant VA ecosystem, as demonstrated by NFT issuance in our market, presence of Metaverse developers, and use of DLT in trade finance etc. Further opportunities can be realized if we cast our sight further on more use cases, e.g. trading arts and collectibles, tokenizing vintage goods, or in the case of financial innovations, tokenizing a wide spectrum of products such as debt securities.”
Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) will study how to develop exchange traded funds (ETFs) for virtual assets, while the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) will work on a regulatory regime for stable coins.
Most important of all, the government will introduce a new licensing regime for global virtual asset service providers to set up their businesses in Hong Kong, and retail investors will be allowed to invest in virtual assets, which are currently restricted to professional investors.
31 October 2022 - The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr. Christopher Hui, said, "We recognize the potential of distributed ledger technologies and Web 3.0 to become the future of finance and commerce, and under proper regulation they are expected to enhance efficiency and transparency. The Government is prepared to embrace this future, and we welcome the clustering of Fintech and VA community and talents in Hong Kong, and we will promote the sustainable development of financial services across the whole VA value chain."
31 October 2022 -Securities and Futures Commission is currently reviewing the licensing regime and the relevant securities rules and regulations to allow retail access to virtual asset trading, security tokens and virtual-asset-backed ETFs, solidifying Hong Kong’s status as a world leader and pioneer in virtual asset regulation. Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of Intermediaries of Securities and Futures Commission, Ms. Julia Leung, said, “Let me be clear: by adopting this approach, we are supportive of the underlying innovative technology, distributed ledger technology (DLT); we also welcome the growth of the fintech community in Hong Kong. NFTs, the Metaverse and Web 3.0 are beginning to reshape our lives. In particular, NFTs are now accepted as a new way to authenticate ownership and facilitate the transfer of artwork, music, videos and photographs. Meanwhile, GameFi, which typically refers to blockchain games that incentivize players with tokens, is another area that is growing exponentially. All this innovation has spawned new economic activities in art, culture, gaming and more. This is clearly something Hong Kong should support.”
1 November 2022 – The date after the release of the Statement, the Government kicks off the market consultation work. The Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, Professor Sun Dong (third from the left), attended the innovation and technology policy (I&T) symposium and briefed the I&T sector, professional bodies, academic associations and research clusters on I&T initiatives outlined in “The Chief Executive's 2022 Policy Address”. In addition, Professor Sun listened to the opinions of industry representatives from the four Greater Bay Area cities, Hong Kong, Shenzhen Qianhai, Guangzhou and Foshan , and responded to the suggestions on the spot. Professor Sun said, " The Government will promulgate the Hong Kong I&T Development Blueprint within this year.”
Founder and CEO of HKmediaEx, Lewis Wan, said, “The Government’s unambiguous and welcoming stance on virtual assets not only demonstrates her strong commitment and determination to build Hong Kong into a global hub for virtual assets, but also attracts the global attention with KOL even suggesting ALL-IN Hong Kong. Leveraging on policies is always the winning strategy. We are the lucky ones of the times having the opportunity to involve in the construction of this global hub.”
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