On April 10, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced that, in accordance with the "Stablecoin Ordinance," it has officially issued stablecoin licenses to Anchor (a joint venture of Standard Chartered Bank, Hong Kong Telecom, and the Ant Group) and HSBC Bank.Norman Chan, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, published an article titled "Steadily Developing Hong Kong's Compliant Stablecoin Ecosystem" in the official "Viewpoint" column, in which he pointed out that,this licensing marks a new phase in Hong Kong's stablecoin regulation. Both licensees plan to issue Hong Kong dollar stablecoins in the first phase, focusing on four major scenarios: cross-border and local payments, tokenized asset trading, and innovative applications. As both institutions have banking backgrounds and have participated in CBDC experiments, they are well-positioned to explore the collaborative effects of "future payments." The HKMA emphasized that the licensing threshold will remain high, and the number of licenses will be kept limited in the future. Subsequent measures, such as on-site reviews, will be implemented to ensure licensees operate in compliance. This move aims to leverage compliant stablecoins to address real economic pain points in line with international regulatory trends, laying a solid foundation for Hong Kong as a digital financial hub.
Author: Norman Chan
Source: Hong Kong Monetary Authority







