Hong Kong's Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau and Securities and Futures Commission publish conclusions on virtual asset dealing and custody licensing and consult on advisory and management regimes

Hong Kong's Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau and the Securities and Futures Commission jointly published consultation conclusions on legislative proposals to introduce licensing regimes for virtual asset (VA) dealing service providers and VA custodian service providers, and opened a further one-month public consultation on separate licensing regimes for VA advisory and VA management service providers. Across the two-month consultation completed in August, the authorities received 101 submissions on VA dealing and 93 on VA custody, with most respondents supporting expansion of regulation beyond the VA trading platform licensing regime introduced in June 2023. The VA dealing regime is intended to largely align with the Securities and Futures Ordinance framework for Type 1 (dealing in securities) activity, while the VA custodian regime is focused on risks around safeguarding clients’ VA private keys in Hong Kong. Reflecting consultation feedback, the authorities shifted from their initial approach of covering VA advisory and management under the VA dealing regime to proposing standalone licensing regimes modelled on the conventional securities market framework to provide clearer activity boundaries. The further consultation runs until January 23, 2026. Taking account of that feedback, the authorities aim to finalise the legislative proposals and introduce the relevant bill into the Legislative Council in 2026.