Policy Event Β· High impact

Hong Kong HKMA Grants First Stablecoin Licenses to HSBC and Anchorpoint Financial

HKMA approved Hong Kong's first stablecoin issuer licenses under the Stablecoins Ordinance effective August 2025. HSBC and Anchorpoint Financial Limited received initial licenses with strict 1:1 high-quality liquid asset reserve requirements. Additional licenses to be issued in phases as HKMA reviews remaining applications from 77 formal applicants. This positions Hong Kong as a leading regional stablecoin hub competing with Singapore.

High impactπŸ‡­πŸ‡° Hong KongStablecoinLicensingUSDTUSDCHSBCAnchorpoint FinancialHKMA

APAC FINSTAB analysis

For APAC operators, this creates a high-impact signal around stablecoin, licensing in Hong Kong. Protocols/assets in scope: USDT, USDC. Named institutions or platforms: HSBC, Anchorpoint Financial, HKMA. Teams should monitor the original source, map the change to licensing, custody, disclosure, and market-access obligations, and update their jurisdiction playbooks before the next compliance review.

Compliance read-through: map this event to entity licensing, market-access, custody, disclosure, token listing, and operational-risk obligations before expanding or marketing in the affected jurisdiction.

View related Stablecoin tracker page β†’

Related policy events

Federal Reserve Opens GENIUS Act Stablecoin Issuer Rule Proposals

The Federal Reserve requested public comment on two proposals establishing a regulatory framework for Board-supervised payment stablecoin issuers under the GENIUS Act. The proposals move issuer supervision, reserves, capital, redemption and reporting controls from statute into agency implementation.

High impactπŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ United StatesRegulationStablecoinBankingUSDTUSDCUSD

Tether Says EQIBank Exposure Is Tiny After Asset Seizure Report

Tether said assets held with EQIBank represent less than 0.034% of total assets after reports that the offshore digital bank faces liquidation pressure following U.S. asset seizures. The case highlights stablecoin reserve-bank concentration, seizure risk and redemption resilience controls.

Medium impact🌐 GlobalπŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ United States🌐 DOStablecoinBankingAMLUSDT

Bank Of Russia Allows Qualified Funds To Hold Cash-Settled Crypto Derivatives

The Bank of Russia expanded eligible assets for qualified-investor funds to include cash-settled derivatives linked to crypto prices after registration with the Justice Ministry. The rule creates a regulated fund channel for crypto exposure while keeping physical crypto delivery outside the permitted structure.

High impactπŸ‡·πŸ‡Ί RussiaRegulationLicensingETFRUBBTCUSDT

Hong Kong Plans Record Multi-Currency Digital Green Bond Sale

Hong Kong is reportedly preparing a HK$15 billion to HK$20 billion multi-currency digital green bond sale that could become the largest deal of its type. A sovereign-scale issuance would test tokenized bond registration, custody, investor eligibility, tax handling, and secondary-transfer controls.

High impactπŸ‡­πŸ‡° Hong KongTokenizationRegulationBankingHKDUSDCNY