On the afternoon of December 12, the "Finloop2025•Empowering Wealth Management through Fintech" annual summit forum for the Hong Kong wealth management industry, hosted by Xinglu Financial Technology Holdings Limited, was held in Hong Kong. At the conference, Chan Ho-lam, Deputy Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, delivered a keynote speech.
Chan Ho-lam stated that as a leading international financial center in Asia, Hong Kong is an ideal place that combines traditional financial instruments with virtual assets: In 2022, the first virtual asset futures ETFs were listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange; in 2023, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government issued the world's first government-issued tokenized green bonds; in April 2024, the first batch of virtual asset spot ETFs in Asia will be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange; in November 2024, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government's Monetary Authority will launch a digital bond funding scheme to promote the development of the digital securities market and encourage broader use of tokenized technology in capital markets.
Chan Ho-lam emphasized that these measures highlight Hong Kong's determination and development in financial innovation and reflect the rapid development of Hong Kong in the field of virtual assets, establishing an important position globally.
Chan Ho-lam mentioned that currently, there are three licensed virtual asset trading platforms in Hong Kong, and the Treasury Bureau plans to submit a legislative proposal for the regulatory framework for fiat-backed stablecoin issuers to the Legislative Council for review within this month. "Additionally, we plan to conduct a public consultation next year on the licensing system for over-the-counter trading and custodial service providers of virtual assets to promote the sustainable development of various sectors in the virtual asset market."
Reporters from the Daily Economic News noted that since the beginning of this year, Hong Kong has been active in the field of virtual assets. On November 15 this year, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange officially launched a series of virtual asset indices, stating that the virtual asset index series will provide a reliable benchmark price for this rapidly emerging asset class, supporting Hong Kong's development as Asia's leading digital asset center.