Hong Kong to Prepare Stablecoin Legislation as Public Consultation Ends

• Hong Kong’s regulators published the conclusions from their consultation on a stablecoin regime.

• The next step is to prepare a bill for the Legislative Council.

Hong Kong’s financial regulators said they plan to present a bill on fiat-referenced stablecoins to the Legislative Council later this year.

The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) published the results of a consultation, and concluded that the stablecoin regime would “primarily focus on representations of value which rest on ledgers that are operated in a decentralised manner” in which “no person has the unilateral authority to control or materially alter its functionality or operation.”

The consultation paper for stablecoin guidelines published at the end of last year received 108 submissions from stakeholders. The regulators plan to take suggestions from respondents before finalizing the bill for the legislative process.

The regulators confirmed their initial proposal that any person who issues a stablecoin in Hong Kong must obtain a license. While they say keeping reserve assets with banks licensed in Hong Kong could provide greater user protection, they are open to considering proposals on placing reserve assets in other jurisdictions.

Foreign entities intending to apply for a license will be required to establish a Hong Kong subsidiary and have key management personnel, including a CEO, in the territory.

After considering the responses, the HKMA said it is “inclined to reduce the frequency of public disclosure.” It had proposed monthly attestation by an independent auditor, and will continue discussions on the matter.

Hong Kong is trying to keep pace with other major jurisdictions in becoming a leading crypto hub. Europe’s MiCA stablecoin regime came into force this month and members of Congress in the U.S. are actively attempting to push forward stablecoin bills.

In March, the HKMA started a regulatory sandbox to give potential stablecoin issuers immunity in testing certain operations. In today’s announcement, the HKMA said it is processing the applications for the stablecoin issuer sandbox and will announce more shortly.