The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has launched Project SAGE, short for Securing Agentic Finance with Governance and Enablement, to support applications of artificial intelligence (AI) agents in financial services while addressing governance risks. The initiative forms part of its Fintech 2030 agenda as the industry explores AI uses beyond internal operations. It will help industry participants and their partners explore and validate applications ranging from consumer commerce and everyday payments to business procurement, treasury management and payments between machines for digital services. Alongside use case development, the project will examine how to verify AI agents’ identities and delegated authority through Know Your Agent practices and authentication mechanisms. Industry discussions will address standards and protocols for secure interactions across the agentic finance ecosystem, as well as legal and regulatory considerations covering governance, liability and consumer protection. The HKMA has established an Agentic Finance Expert Group to support this work, bringing together financial institutions, technology providers, professional service firms and academia.
HKMA launches Project SAGE to explore agentic finance applications and governance
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has launched Project SAGE under its Fintech 2030 agenda to help industry explore and validate financial services using AI agents. Its work will address agent identity and delegated authority, interoperability, and governance issues including liability and consumer protection. A newly established Agentic Finance Expert Group will support the project.