Hong Kong’s proposed pathway to fully licensing virtual asset exchanges – what, why and what’s next?

This article was written by Urszula McCormack, Leonie Tear, Evan Manolios and Kellie Tse

The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) of Hong Kong has launched a Public Consultation on Legislative Proposals to Enhance Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Regulation in Hong Kong (Consultation).  The Consultation aims to enhance the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CTF) regime in Hong Kong by amending the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (Cap. 615) (AMLO).

In this alert, we focus on the proposed licensing of virtual asset exchanges (Proposed Licensing Framework), with a concise summary of the other areas provided at the end.