The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) recently issued a consultation paper setting out its proposed regulatory approach for derivatives contracts that reference payment tokens as underlying assets (Payment Token Derivatives). What is this approach meant to address? A well-regulated market for derivatives – particularly one anchored by institutional investors with sophisticated risk management and investment … Continue Reading
Partners from our global FinTech team flew in from Hong Kong, Vancouver, London, Dallas, Johannesburg and Melbourne to join our Singapore team at the SFF 2019 (Singapore FinTech Festival) 11-13 November. The SFF is the world’s largest annual FinTech conference, bringing together over 45,000 FinTech enthusiasts to explore, collaborate and discuss the future of FinTech. … Continue Reading
At the Hong Kong Fintech week, the Chief Executive Officer of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), Mr Ashley Alder, announced the rollout of a new regulatory framework for virtual asset trading platforms. The regulation of virtual asset trading platforms (and whether they should fall within the SFC’s regulatory oversight) has been a key regulatory … Continue Reading
The Singapore International Commercial Court has published its first cryptocurrency judgment. In this briefing note we discuss the key novel points arising from the case (B2C2 Ltd v Quoine Pte Ltd [2019] SGHC(l) 3) and consider the implications for digital assets, smart contracts and artificial intelligence.… Continue Reading
Partners from our global FinTech team flew in from Hong Kong, Vancouver, London and Dallas to join our New York team to attend Consensus and Blockchain week in NYC (13-15 May). Consensus is an annual global conference which brings together the world’s most innovative minds to explore and debate the future of blockchain and crypto. … Continue Reading
On 28 March 2019, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) published a statement reminding parties who engage in security token offerings (STOs) to be aware of the applicable legal and regulatory requirements. This statement is helpful given that STOs are a relatively new form of token issuance. STOs are specific offerings which are structured to … Continue Reading
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) have shone a light on the risks associated with crypto-assets in a statement issued on 13 March 2019, calling on banks who acquire exposures to crypto-assets to take appropriate and specific measures to mitigate such risks. The BCBS is the primary global standard setter for the prudential regulation … Continue Reading
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has recently (18 July 2018) released its final Open API Framework. The formulation of the Open API Framework is one of the seven initiatives announced by the HKMA in September 2017 to facilitate the move into a new era of Smart Banking. The framework sets out a phased approach to … Continue Reading
‘Best Practices for Digital Asset Exchanges’ is a first-of its kind report released by ASIFMA, the region’s leading trade association for the financial industry. The report aims to guide digital exchanges towards international best practices and highlights key areas for consideration, including the listing processes, market abuse issues, regulatory considerations, cybersecurity and engagement with external … Continue Reading
Following a public consultation, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) published a revised Guideline on Authorization of Virtual Banks (the Guideline) on 30 May 2018. The Guideline supersedes the previous guideline issued in 2000 (and updated in 2012). Our blog entry dated 4 March 2018 which provides details of the public consultation can be found … Continue Reading
An investigation by Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has led to the halt and unwinding of an initial coin offering (ICO) by Black Cell Technology Limited (Black Cell) to the Hong Kong public on the basis that Black Cell potentially engaged in unauthorized promotional and unlicensed regulated activities. Black Cell promoted the token … Continue Reading
On 29 September 2017, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced a range of initiatives aimed at preparing Hong Kong for a new era of smarter banking driven by technological advances. The HKMA press releases were announced on the same day as, and supplement, announcements by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and the Insurance … Continue Reading
On 29 September 2017, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) issued a circular announcing the launch of the SFC Regulatory Sandbox (the Sandbox) which aims to regulate qualified firms conducting regulated activities under the Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO) in the financial technologies (Fintech) sphere. The circular was issued in tandem with announcements by the … Continue Reading
To promote the development of Insurtech in Hong Kong, the Insurance Authority (IA) launched two initiatives on 29 September 2017, “Insurtech Sandbox” and “Fast Track”. Insurtech Sandbox Insurtech Sandbox aims to facilitate a pilot run of innovative Insurtech applications by authorized insurers in their business operations. Insurtech Sandbox allows authorized insurers to experiment with new … Continue Reading
On 14 September 2017, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and the Securities Commission Malaysia (SCM) signed a co-operation agreement to collaborate on the promotion of financial innovation in Hong Kong and Malaysia The co-operation agreement sets out a framework for collaboration between the SFC and the SCM and covers matters such as referrals, information … Continue Reading
On 28 August 2017, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) signed a co-operation agreement to collaborate on the promotion of financial innovation in Hong Kong and Dubai. The co-operation agreement sets out a framework for collaboration between the SFC and the DFSA and covers matters such as referrals, … Continue Reading
The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) signed a Co-operation Agreement on 12 May 2017 to facilitate innovation in financial services in their respective markets – the latest development in the trend of cross-border collaboration among regulators in the Fintech and Regtech space. Each of the … Continue Reading
A two-month consultation on proposed measures to reduce and mitigate cyber security risks associated with internet trading of securities in Hong Kong (the Consultation) was launched on 8 May 2017 by the Securities and Futures Commission (the SFC). The Consultation follows a recent review by the SFC of resilience of brokers in Hong Kong to … Continue Reading
Earlier this week, on 7 December 2016, at the London–Hong Kong Financial Services Forum, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) signed an agreement undertaking to collaborate on the promotion of financial innovation in the UK and Hong Kong. To facilitate this goal, the HKMA and FCA will work together … Continue Reading
On 11 November 2016, the ‘Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute’s White Paper on Distributed Ledger Technology’ (the White Paper) was commissioned by the FFO of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) to investigate the potential applications of distributed ledger technology (DLT). Although fintech is already widely used in areas such as internet … Continue Reading
Singapore’s financial regulator, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), has launched guidelines for its FinTech Regulatory Sandbox, which is now open for applications. The regulatory sandbox is available to financial institutions or any interested firm that wishes to experiment with innovative financial services in a production environment but within a defined space and duration. The … Continue Reading
The Hong Kong securities regulator, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), will commence a pilot project next month to assess how ‘fintech’ can be used in its regulatory monitoring processes with a view to implementing new systems. A sample group of 20 banks will be participating in the pilot project along with an external technology … Continue Reading
On 6 September 2016, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) released a circular advising the launch of its Fintech Supervisory Sandbox (Sandbox). The Sandbox is intended to facilitate pilot trials of newly developed technologies and applications by authorized institutions (AIs) without the need to achieve full compliance with HKMA’s requirements, thereby allowing AIs to collate … Continue Reading
