Hong Kong: Opened Consultation on Legislative Proposals for Stable Currency Issuer Supervisory Regime

On 27 December 2023, the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) jointly released a public consultation paper on the legislative proposals to regulate stable money issuers until 29 February 2024. The proposal includes implementing a licensing regime for eligible issuers of fiat stable money, requiring only designated licensed institutions to provide services for the purchase of fiat stablecoins, and prohibiting the promotion of fiat stable money issues by non-licensed issuers. The consultation also includes the introduction of a "sandbox" arrangement to communicate regulatory expectations and provide compliance guidance to issuers intending to issue fiat stable money in Hong Kong.