Hong Kong’s securities watchdog is studying the possibility of offering a wider range of digital asset products and services to professional investors, with the prerequisite of sufficient investor protection in place, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said.
The Securities and Futures Commission will also introduce automated reporting and data surveillance tools to build a line of defence against risks associated with digital assets in Hong Kong, Lee said.
The government will step up international tax co-operation to tackle cross-border tax evasion as well, while implementing a regime for stablecoin issuers and formulating legislative proposals regarding licensing regimes for digital asset dealing and custodian service providers, he said.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority will continue to take forward Project Ensemble, including encouraging commercial banks to introduce tokenized deposits, and promoting live transactions of tokenized assets, such as the settlement of tokenized money market funds with tokenized deposits, CE said.
It will also assist the government in regularising the issuance of tokenized bonds and encourage banks to strengthen risk management through the supervisory sandbox, he added.
