Hong Kong Plans 2026 Bill for Four Virtual Asset Licenses

Hong Kong will submit an amendment bill within this year to set up licenses for virtual asset trading, custody, advisory and management services. Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui gave the commitment at a Legislative Council financial affairs panel briefing on Monday, Oct 5, according to the government statement on his opening remarks. Cointelegraph described the move as a renewed pledge to meet an end-2026 deadline for the draft.

"The first is a shift from 'scale pursuit' to 'functional enhancement,' namely, enhancing the core functions of financial services to the real economy and improving price discovery," Hui said, as reported by CryptoTimes. The briefing tied the licensing plan to the city's First Five-Year Plan for 2026 to 2030 and the 2026 Policy Address.

In the official record, Hui said the government would submit a draft amendment to the ordinance this year in response to innovative developments in financial technology. The statement lists the four covered activities as trading, custody, providing opinions and management services. No application criteria, fees or staffing numbers were published with the remarks.

The pledge restates a timetable Hui first laid out in January. At that time he said regulators planned a draft proposal on crypto asset regulation before the end of 2026, and that the Hong Kong Monetary Authority had begun processing license applications from stablecoin issuers, Cointelegraph wrote. The October briefing keeps that schedule intact rather than extending it.

Stablecoin licensing has already started moving. In April the monetary authority granted its first stablecoin issuer licenses to Anchorpoint Financial and the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, according to the same report. Those approvals sit outside the new bill but show the staged way Hong Kong has built its regime, with stablecoins first and wider activity licenses next.

The wider financial plan

Oversight of licensed crypto providers widened days before the briefing. On Sept 28 the Securities and Futures Commission and the Accounting and Financial Reporting Council signed a memorandum of understanding on financial reporting and audit work for licensed virtual asset service providers and related entities, according to the same report. The agreement covers how auditors check the books of firms that will fall under the coming licenses.

Hui framed the crypto bill as one piece of a broader program to hold Hong Kong's place as an international finance center. The government said its approach rests on three directions, which include strengthening the city's hub role, building new growth areas and pairing finance with technology and green development. The second of two strategic shifts moves from a finance-centered city to one where finance supports tech, green projects and daily life, in the official account of his remarks.

Offshore renminbi business took up much of the briefing. The monetary authority is discussing changes to currency swap arrangements with the People's Bank of China, and the government plans a seven-day offshore renminbi liquidity bidding mechanism plus study of short-term offshore renminbi debt tools to round out the interest-rate curve, the statement says. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange will publish an offshore renminbi bond index for use as a market reference and as a benchmark for exchange-traded funds.

Bond market plumbing is also due for an upgrade. Collateral accepted at three clearing houses under the exchange group will widen to more northbound Bond Connect bonds starting in November, while southbound bonds enter repurchase arrangements, according to the official account. The government also plans to issue more Dim Sum bonds and adjust their maturities where suitable, and it hopes the national finance ministry will sell bonds in Hong Kong more often and in larger size.

Equities and asset management drew separate pledges. The exchange is consulting on a second-stage review of listing competitiveness covering mergers, restructurings and spin-offs, with a consultation on specialist technology listing rules due in the first half of next year, the record shows. The securities regulator will consult on slimmer prospectus disclosure, and the government wants renminbi counters added to the southbound Stock Connect channel.

Property and treasury measures have their own legislative path. A bill to ease privatization or restructuring of real estate investment trusts goes to lawmakers this year, with a stamp-duty waiver for pre-listing transfers of non-residential property into such trusts due in the first half of next year alongside tax relief for corporate treasury centers, Hui told the panel. The detailed licensing requirements for virtual asset firms, including who must apply first, were not disclosed in the coverage.

Commodities form the second growth plank, with gold as the entry point. The Hong Kong Gold Central Clearing and Settlement System is scheduled to start in the first quarter of next year, and the exchange will publish details of new renminbi-denominated, physically settled gold futures contracts this year, per the government statement. Hui added that a joint working group on commodity trading, which he chairs, held its first meeting last week with regulators to review market openings and cross-exchange cooperation.

"We will not be content with maintaining the status quo, but will proactively promote the development of new growth points," Hui said, in remarks quoted by the outlet. On scams, he said the government and the monetary authority are studying legal changes to help technology and telecom firms detect and remove fraudulent content, including material generated with artificial intelligence. The draft virtual asset bill now heads toward formal tabling, with its text and start dates still to be published.