Retail Access For Virtual Assets – Risky Business Or Radical Open-mindedness?

Hong Kong's Fintech Week 2022 began with a crypto-infused bang with keynote speeches from the Government and financial regulators embracing the financial innovation made possible by virtual assets (VAs). Recognising that VAs are here to stay, Hong Kong has proposed to recalibrate the existing legal and regulatory regimes, with a focus on enabling greater access by retail investors to VA-related products and services while mitigating attendant risk. We also anticipate developments in the near future around the property rights of tokenised assets and stablecoins.

A lot of the detail can be found in the policy statement issued by the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau yesterday, as well as the keynote speech by Julia Leung of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC). Hong Kong will continue to adopt the "same activity, same risks, same regulation" principle, and will put in place the necessary guardrails to ensure the continued innovation of VAs in