Hong Kong Treasury Secretary: Restricting Digital Asset Trading To Millionaires Good For The City

Hong Kong’s Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Christopher Hui has defended the latest suggestion by the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau to prohibit retail virtual currency trading.

In a recent speech given at StartmeupHK virtual fintech summit, Hui mentioned that the recommendation was in line with the government’s plan to adequately regulate the mushroming digital asset market.

Earlier, FSTB issued a draft after months of discussion, calling for a prohibition on retail digital asset trading and the initiation of a uncompromising regulatory policy for digital currency exchanges.

Nevertheless, Hui has a different stance. He stated,

“We are of the view that a proper regulatory system could facilitate development and at the same time protect investors and adhere to international regulatory standards.”

As per the Hong Kong treasury chief,

“Imposing mandatory requirements to protect investors, prohibit market manipulation, and guard against money laundering and terrorist financing, we believe the proposed regime will further facilitate development of the virtual assets industry in Hong Kong, leveraging our world-class regulatory framework.”

Earlier in the month of December last year, when the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau was still in the middle of its discussions, numerous industry stakeholders denounced the suggested digital asset regulations. At the time, experts argued that these restrictive crypto asset laws would be detrimental to Hong Kong’s financial transformation agenda.