Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA)

We are thrilled to announce the successful completion of the initial phase of six innovative tokenisation use cases under the Ensemble Sandbox, an innovative distributed ledger technology (DLT)-integrated financial market infrastructure that is supporting the development of the tokenisation market in Hong Kong. Since its launch in August 2024, the Ensemble Sandbox has been at the forefront of exploring innovative tokenisation use cases with an initial focus on using tokenised deposits. Our collaborative efforts with industry participants have focused on four key areas: 📈Fixed Income and Investment Funds  - Digital Bonds: HSBC successfully settled digital bonds issued on its digital asset platform “HSBC Orion” using tokenised deposits. - Money Market Fund: A partnership between Bank of China (Hong Kong) and BOCHK Asset Management Limited has successfully tokenised a money market fund, settling subsequent transactions through tokenised deposits. 💧Liquidity Management  - Treasury Management: A collaboration between Ant International and HSBC successfully conducted real-time cross-bank transfers for intra-group treasury management using tokenised deposits. 🌱Green and Sustainable Finance  - EV Charging Stations: Ant Digital Technologies and LongShine Group tokenised revenue streams from EV charging stations into a real-world asset fund token, followed by the distribution of the tokenised fund units with trade settlement via tokenised deposits. 📦Trade and Supply Chain Finance  - Trade Finance Payments: Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited digitalised the credit bill negotiation transfer process through tokenisation. - Electronic Bill of Lading Transactions: A collaborative effort between Ant Digital Technologies, Hang Seng Bank Limited, HSBC, and the Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN) Limited enabled the settlement of tokenised electronic bill of lading transactions via tokenised deposits. The above use cases not only demonstrate the technical and commercial potential of tokenisation, but also pave the way for innovative business models and tokenisation applications in Hong Kong. A huge thank you to all our partners and participants for their commitment and collaboration. Let’s continue tokenising together, today and tomorrow! 🌟 #ProjectEnsemble #Tokenisation #Collaboration #Fintech #TokenisingTogetherTodayAndTomorrow

The HKMA and the Bank for International Settlements – BIS successfully co-hosted the International Financial Conference yesterday, with support from the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP). Building on last year's inaugural success, the conference gathered over 100 representatives from international organisations, central banks, regulatory authorities, financial institutions, technology firms, consultancy firms, and academia. This year’s theme, “Opportunities and Challenges of Emerging Technologies in the Financial Ecosystem”, sparked insightful discussions about how technologies like artificial intelligence and tokenisation are reshaping the world of finance. Eddie Yue, Chief Executive of the HKMA, emphasised that “Technology is a game changer in the financial industry.” He highlighted the importance of collaboration among stakeholders to address the challenges posed by technological advancements while embracing the incredible opportunities they present. We extend our sincere gratitude to our distinguished speakers for their valuable insights: Sarah Breeden (Bank of England), Yeow Seng Tan (Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)), Balbir Bakhshi (LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group)), James Elwes (HSBC), Til Schuermann (Oliver Wyman), Gaston Gelos (BIS), Dong He (International Monetary Fund), Norman Chan (Hong Kong Academy of Finance (AoF)), Cecilia Skingsley (BIS), and Tao Zhang (BIS). For more details, read the full press release here: https://lnkd.in/gApwjY8u #HKMA #BIS #FinancialInnovation #CentralBanks #Inflation #AI #DigitalTransformation

The HKMA is proud to announce the signing of a memorandum of understanding today in Riyadh with the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia to anchor a new investment fund with a target size of US$1 billion. The fund aims to explore investment in manufacturing, renewables, fintech and healthcare, supporting the expansion of companies connected to Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area into Saudi Arabia. The fund would drive economic growth in both regions, and stronger cross-border collaboration. The signing of this MoU is a milestone and underlines the economic ties between two leading institutions – PIF and HKMA. For more details, read here: https://lnkd.in/gwpudn4Q #HongKong #SaudiArabia #Multilateralism #Investment #Connectivity

HKMA recently announced our Sustainable Finance Action Agenda, which reinforces Hong Kong’s position as Asia’s sustainable finance hub. The Action Agenda includes four key areas and today we’re highlighting the first area: Banking for net zero. 🏛️ 1️⃣ All banks should strive to achieve net zero in their own operations by 2030 and in financed emissions by 2050. Tentatively from 2030, banks should start submitting transition plans to HKMA regularly on a “comply or explain” basis. These plans should be Paris-aligned and include: • Decarbonisation and financing targets • Phase-out strategy for carbon-intensive assets HKMA will support this transition through: • Spearheading the transition through HKMA’s own net zero targets • Comprehensive guidance and practical tools • Green taxonomy development • Specialised workshops 2️⃣ All banks should enhance transparency on climate-related risks and opportunities. Banks should align their disclosures with leading international frameworks and standards: • International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) Standards • Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) Pillar 3 disclosure framework HKMA’s implementation roadmap includes: • Analysis of the current industry landscape • Sharing insights and good practices • Industry consultation on implementation timelines and approach • Development of regulatory requirements For detailed insights, view the infographics in this post, or our full agenda here: https://lnkd.in/gZqac6a9 #SustainableFinance #GreenFinance #Sustainability #SustainabilityDisclosures #NetZero #Banking #HongKong

The HKMA is pleased to welcome three new members to the Ensemble Architecture Community (AC) from J.P. Morgan Chase, National Association, R3 and WeBank Technology Services, which will support our efforts to establish interoperability standards for wholesale Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), tokenised deposits, and tokenised assets. The new members bring a wealth of business and technical expertise in tokenisation and various distributed ledger technology infrastructures. Their contributions will be instrumental in advancing the Ensemble Sandbox. The HKMA is also broadening the scope of its experimentation with fixed income and investment fund tokenisation use cases with four additional participants, including China Construction Bank (Asia), Fubon Bank (Hong Kong) Limited, JETCO and OSL Digital Securities Limited. Each participant offers unique insights from diverse areas of the financial and technology industries. Click here for more information on the new members and Ensemble use cases: https://lnkd.in/gqj6D7Yz #HKMA #ProjectEnsemble #Tokenisation #TokenisingTogetherTodayAndTomorrow

Exciting developments from the opening day of Hong Kong FinTech Week 2024! On Monday, the HKMA hosted the Project Ensemble Roundtables, bringing together over 100 global leaders from finance, technology, regulators, industry associations, and international organisations to explore the tokenisation landscape. Discussions centred around three areas, highlighting both the opportunities and challenges of tokenisation: 🌱 Green and Sustainable Finance (Moderated by George Chou, Chief Fintech Officer of the HKMA) Tokenisation can enhance transparency, liquidity, and trust in green finance projects and carbon credit markets, paving the way for innovative solutions in sustainable financing and investing. 📦 Trade and Supply Chain Finance (Moderated by Lucy Wong, Advisor at the Bank for International Settlements – BIS (BISIH) Hong Kong Centre) The tokenisation of electronic bills of lading (eBL) and the digitalisation of trade processes can significantly reduce cost, improve transparency, and create new trade financing opportunities by enabling a vibrant secondary market for trade finance products. 💰 Financial Assets (Moderated by Elizabeth Wong, Director and Head of Fintech Unit, Intermediaries at the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) Tokenising financial assets can further improve market efficiency, liquidity, and transparency, leading to better capital allocation, and ultimately benefiting all market participants. To harness these benefits, collaboration is essential. The industry needs to continue working together on: ✅ Defining technical interoperability standards for new digital asset platforms, and between these new platforms and existing financial market infrastructures; ✅ Establishing a robust legal and regulatory framework for the tokenisation market; ✅ Educating and supporting financial market participants and the public in adopting these innovative solutions. The insights gained from the Project Ensemble Roundtables will inform the HKMA’s exploration of tokenisation use cases in the Ensemble Sandbox as well as our research for the interoperability report, underscoring our commitment to “tokenise together, today and tomorrow”. #ProjectEnsemble #Fintech #Tokenisation #EnsembleRoundtables #HongKongFintechWeek #TokenisingTogetherTodayAndTomorrow

The main conference of Hong Kong FinTech Week 2024 has successfully wrapped up! Under the theme “Illuminating New Pathways in FinTech”, key leaders from various financial sectors gathered to engage in valuable conversations and build partnerships. Howard Lee, Deputy Chief Executive of the HKMA, had an in-depth discussion with Eric Jing, Chairman and CEO of Ant Group, on powering growth through innovation, partnerships and adaptability.  Arthur Yuen, Deputy Chief Executive of the HKMA, shared insights on the new era of fintech growth in the Greater Bay Area. The two-day main conference featured a number of insightful panel discussions on topics such as Generative A.I. (#GenAI), tokenisation, digital money, digital economy, cross-border payments, the future of capital markets and fintech innovations. More satellite events will be held in the coming few days. Check out on the Hong Kong FinTech Week’s official website (https://lnkd.in/gtE36MnR). See you next year! Learn more about our initiatives: https://lnkd.in/gqj6D7Yz #HKFTW #HKFTW24 #HKMA #FinTechHK #FinTech 

The HKMA is proud to announce our membership as a Founding Member of the Linux Foundation Decentralized Trust (LF Decentralized Trust), a leading open source foundation for decentralised technology ecosystems! Project Ensemble - the HKMA’s latest initiative to support the sustainable development of Hong Kong’s tokenisation market - shares LF Decentralized Trust’s commitment to open-source technology, fostering collaboration, future-proofing the Ensemble Sandbox, and ensuring that Hong Kong’s financial system remains at the forefront of innovation. As a Founding Member and under the umbrella of Project Ensemble, the HKMA will focus on: ✅ Interoperability: Developing open standards for seamless connection and interaction across current and future financial market infrastructures, market participants and jurisdictions. ✅ Collaborative Innovation: Partnering with industry leaders to drive the tokenisation of finance through innovative financial market infrastructures and use cases. We look forward to working with LF Decentralized Trust members to create a more interconnected and trusted tokenisation ecosystem, and furthering sustainable growth and innovation in Hong Kong’s financial sector! #HKMA #LFDecentralizedTrust #ProjectEnsemble #TokenisingTogetherTodayAndTomorrow #OpenSource #FinTech

📢The HKMA announced the launch of “Fintech Connect” – Hong Kong’s first cross-sectoral sourcing platform bridging financial institutions with fintech solution providers – at this year’s Hong Kong FinTech Week. To further enhance the platform, the HKMA is partnering with the Qianhai Authority to incorporate Qianhai-based fintech solution providers, strengthening cross-border ties and fostering mutual growth and development within the fintech ecosystem in the Greater Bay Area. In his keynote address, Arthur Yuen, Deputy Chief Executive of the HKMA, highlighted that Fintech Connect would enable financial institutions to partner with solution providers via more direct networking and precise matching to explore innovative solutions together. Read more about Arthur’s speech: https://lnkd.in/geNyn3yS The following panel discussion, which was moderated by Carmen Chu, Executive Director (Banking Supervision) of the HKMA, joined by Helen Wen, Deputy Director of the Qianhai Authority, Henry Ma, EVP & CIO of WeBank, and Daniel Chan, Head of GBA of HSBC, shed light on cross-border collaboration in driving fintech innovation and secured data flows. Examples have been shared on how fintech firms were able to expand their global footprint in a shorter timescale by capitalising on Hong Kong’s role as an international financial centre. This unique collaboration marks the beginning of greater cross-border collaboration on fintech innovation and deployment among cities in the GBA region. The HKMA encourages responsible innovation and remains committed to promoting more secure and innovative fintech adoption by financial institutions. Stay tuned for more Fintech events! #Fintech #Crossborder #Fintechsolutions #Innovation #GBA

Yesterday, Hong Kong Fintech Week 2024 featured insights from Denis Beau, First Deputy Governor of Banque de France (BdF), who discussed the critical role of secure settlement assets in tokenised asset transactions. His remarks followed an engaging discussion last week with Howard Lee, Deputy Chief Executive of the HKMA. Together, they explored the opportunities and challenges presented by the tokenisation of finance, highlighting the proactive measures the two central banks are taking to support this evolving landscape while ensuring safety and stability. Discover the initiatives and perspectives of these two leading central banks in the video below as they continue Illuminating New Pathways in Fintech! Full conversation: https://lnkd.in/gjunQgsD #Tokenisation #ProjectEnsemble #Collaboration #HKFTW2024 #HKFTW #BdF