Hong Kong is preparing to submit legislation before the end of 2026 that would create four new licensing regimes for virtual asset dealing, custody, advisory and management services, according to remarks by Christopher Hui, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, during an Oct. 5 Legislative Council Finance Committee policy briefing.
The proposal follows consultations by the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) and the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC). The initial dealing and custody consultation, launched in June 2025, drew more than 190 responses before conclusions were published on Dec. 24, 2025. A second consultation covering advisory and management services closed in January 2026 and attracted 51 responses. In May, regulators confirmed those conclusions and moved the two additional areas into the same legislative timetable under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance.
Under the plan, virtual asset dealing would broadly follow parts of the framework used for Type 1 securities dealing. Advisory services would be modeled on Type 4 securities regulation, while virtual asset management would follow Type 9 asset-management requirements. Custody rules would focus on firms safeguarding client private keys and customer property. The SFC has used the principle of 'same business, same risks, same rules' throughout the design process.
The new bill would sit alongside existing regimes. Hong Kong already licenses virtual asset trading platforms and stablecoin issuers. The Stablecoins Ordinance took effect on Aug. 1, 2025, and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority granted the first two stablecoin issuer licenses in April 2026. The SFC tightened custody standards in August 2025 and is scheduled to launch a digital asset custody surveillance system in the second half of 2026, with additional big-data market surveillance and anti-money laundering tools expected in 2027 through its CrypTech program.
Hong Kong authorities have not announced a commencement date for the four new licenses. The amendment bill must still pass through the Legislative Council before the requirements become law. Meanwhile, the broader policy program includes regulated stablecoin trading, tokenized investment products, tokenized gold, and central bank digital currency settlement with 24/7 operations through the HKMA’s EnsembleTX platform around the end of 2026.
