TechFlow news, on October 16, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee delivered the 2024 Policy Address, highlighting several initiatives related to virtual assets. Paragraph 99 of the report states: The government will continue advancing its policy stance and guidelines on applying artificial intelligence in innovative financial services, including central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), mobile payments, virtual banking, virtual insurance, and virtual asset trading. Key measures include:
1. Promoting cross-border payment applications of CBDCs: The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is actively testing and exploring more technical solutions and use cases related to cross-border trade settlements across multiple CBDC networks, while expanding participation from both public and private sectors;
2. Enhancing regulation of virtual assets and trading: The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) will complete the second round of consultation on regulating over-the-counter (OTC) virtual asset transactions and submit a virtual licensing regime to regulate virtual asset custodian service providers;
3. Advancing real-world asset tokenization and the digital currency ecosystem: The HKMA is progressing with Project Ensemble to explore applications of real-world asset tokenization and the use of digital currencies for interbank settlements, thereby facilitating the development of related asset trading. Additionally, through the "Stablecoin Issuer Sandbox," the HKMA enables potential issuers to test business models and use cases, and will jointly submit a legislative proposal with the FSTB this year to regulate fiat-referenced stablecoin issuers;
4. Promoting the development of digital securities markets: The HKMA will soon launch the "Digital Bond Subsidy Scheme" to encourage more financial institutions and issuers to adopt tokenization technology in capital market transactions.
