The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government will unveil plans for the development of virtual assets in the city during the upcoming FinTech Week at the end of the month.

In a blog post published on Sunday by Finance Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po, the policy statement will consist of the “vision and strategy, regulatory regime, attitude towards opening up investor access to virtual assets and the technological advantages provided by virtual assets” of the government. assets launch pilot projects”.

The annual Hong Kong FinTech Week will be held from October 31 to November 4, with the theme “Breaking Boundaries and Creating Extraordinary Things.” “The policy statement will clearly express the government’s position, demonstrate to the global industry our vision of building Hong Kong into an international hub for virtual assets, and our commitment and determination to explore financial innovation with the global asset industry,” stated the blog post.

Along with traditional fintech events, similar to last year, Hong Kong FinTech Week will also host the Internet of the Third Generation (Web3), Metaverse and other concepts to add new elements.

“A first-come, first-served version, in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to distribute limited amounts to participants, version of the Proof of Attendance Protocol (POAP) token,” will be part of the blockchain attraction for the annual event of financial technology.

Owners of these NFT tokens will have access to creating their personal avatars through 3D scanning, according to the blog post. He further added that token holders “will be able to use the tokens to participate in other industry events preferably in the future.”

Virtual Asset Development in Hong Kong

In terms of recent developments in the virtual asset sector in Hong Kong, Hashkeys Group and OSL Digital Securities Limited (OSL) have obtained the SFC Type 1 license to handle security. The type 1 license also empowers OSL to serve investors in Hong Kong through private security token offerings (STOs).

Previously, Blockchain.News reported that the China-based cryptocurrency exchange is the first regulated digital asset brokerage firm in Hong Kong to facilitate sales of new security-classified asset-backed digital tokens to global institutions.

OSL has been doing that for a while. So far, his institutional clients include Animoca Brands, Head & Shoulders Financial Group, China Fortune Financial Group Limited, Volmart, and Monmonkey Group Asset Management Limited.

OSL first received approval in principle from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) in August 2020, to license the cryptocurrency company.

Meanwhile, the government has also actively started to introduce security measures against illegal acts carried out through virtual assets and blockchain technology.

The government has announced the framework of a new regulatory regime for virtual assets and associated products and services. The new framework for Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) has been designed primarily to combat money laundering and terrorist financing risks. It is scheduled to come into force on January 1, 2023.

The highlight of the new security measure is that the VASP regulatory regime consists of new licensing and regulatory requirements for VASP operations.

According to the Treasury and Financial Services Office, the licensing requirements of the new VASP regime are highly specialized and technical.

In response to the announcement of a new regulatory regime framework, Mayer Brown, a Chicago-based global white shoe law firm, said: “Hong Kong’s new VASP regime is a recent addition to this space and it will be interesting to see the extent to which, if anything, the new regime impacts the growth of the VA industry in Hong Kong.”

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