Hong Kong adjusts virtual asset licensing regime, plans to add two types of licenses

Mars Finance reports that the Hong Kong Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau and the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission jointly announced that, in addition to regulating “virtual asset trading” and “virtual asset custody” under the original regulatory framework and the Anti-Money Laundering Ordinance (AMLO), they are also preparing to add two more license types. The new licenses will respectively regulate “providing opinions on virtual assets” and “virtual asset management,” and a one-month public consultation has been launched starting today. According to public consultation suggestions, the addition of the “providing opinions on virtual assets” and “virtual asset management” licenses essentially separates the regulation of these two activities from the originally planned “virtual asset trading” license.