(Budget 2026) Electronic bond-trading platform to be launched in second half, with more tokenised bonds issuance

The electronic bond-trading platform will be launched in the second half of this year, reinforcing Hong Kong's position as a global fixed income and currency hub, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said in the Budget Speech on Wednesday.

The Securities and Futures Commission and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority are actively implementing the Roadmap for the Development of Fixed Income and Currency Markets announced last year, including boosting issuance in the primary market, enhancing liquidity in the secondary market, and expanding offshore yuan business, Chan said.

The government will also continue issuing tokenised bonds on a regular basis, while the HKMA will encourage more digital bond issuances in Hong Kong through the Digital Bond Grant Scheme, he noted.

In the fourth quarter last year, the government issued the third batch of tokenised bonds with an issuance size of HK$10billion, marking the largest tokenised bond issuance in the world at the time, he said, adding that the option to settle via tokenised central bank money laid the foundation for future integration with other forms of digital money, he added.