The Hong Kong government is currently apparently working on a cryptocurrency bill that would establish clear policies to facilitate the market’s expansion, which comes just after the territory’s regulators suggested enabling retail investors to directly participate in investing in cryptocurrencies.
According to Liang Hanjing, director of financial technology at InvestHK, the city’s government department for foreign direct investments, the bill pertaining to the regulation of cryptocurrencies is indeed anticipated to be passed in the Legislative Council in the first quarter of 2023, as Baidu reported on October 22.
His remark comes shortly after Hong Kong’s finance secretary Chen Maobo and treasury department secretary Xu Zhengyu notified the public that clear laws on crypto assets were likely to be released during the Hong Kong Fintech Week.
What is the purpose of the bill?
Given that there are currently such platforms functioning in Hong Kong and that such transactions pose money-laundering dangers, the government, according to Lian Hanjing, wants to “create a licensing system for virtual asset service providers (VASPs).”
As he further explained:
“Any person operating a business providing virtual asset services in Hong Kong, or actively promoting virtual asset services to the Hong Kong public, must submit to The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission [that it] has applied for and obtained a VASP license in advance, and [that it] abides by the relevant anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing laws and regulations.”
Liang Hanjing expects that the bill containing this amendment will be passed in the city’s Legislative Council in the first quarter of 2023. By then, he believes that more VASPs will apply for licenses from regulators, and that cryptocurrency trading in Hong Kong would “flourish.”
Disputes over who will be the crypto leader – Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s government is thinking about allowing individual investors to invest directly in digital assets. With this in mind, it adopts a different position from that of mainland China in the midst of the fintech migration that is giving Singapore an advantage as the center of the cryptocurrency business.
Months after declaring that an amendment to the impending Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Bill would include high sanctions for illegal crypto firms and their promotion, it appears that the territory’s officials are softening their position on the sector.
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