（Cointime 18th,May）The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has announced the launch of a pilot program for "Digital HKD", the potential retail-level central bank digital currency (CBDC). Sixteen selected companies from the finance, payment, and technology sectors will conduct the first round of trials within six potential use cases, including comprehensive payments, programmable payments, offline payments, tokenized deposits, Web3 transaction settlements, and tokenized asset settlements.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has emphasized that the initial focus of regulating cryptocurrencies in 2023 would be stablecoins that represent themselves as being linked to the value of one or more legal currencies.

Hong Kong's central bank, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), has reminded banks that they can provide banking services to virtual asset (VA) companies, as some businesses have complained about the difficulty of opening bank accounts in the jurisdiction. The HKMA has encouraged banks to use a "risk-based approach" when conducting due diligence and avoid one-size-fits-all approaches to rejecting account opening applications. In a bid to attract more companies to the jurisdiction, Hong Kong has been providing virtual asset services providers with more regulatory clarity. The HKMA has also released a circular clarifying best practices for offering banking services.
(By Lavender Au)

One size does not fit all when it comes to Anti-Money Laundering (AML), the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) reminded banks on April 27. Banks should not make it unnecessarily hard to open accounts. 

Kraken has joined Coinbase in an effort to push back against the growing regulatory scrutiny by United States regulators.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has reminded banks to adopt a "risk-based approach" in conducting customer due diligence (CDD) and avoid a "one-size-fits-all" approach to reject account opening applications.

The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Eddie Yue, announced at a financial forum that Hong Kong will continue to leverage its advantages as an international financial center to support the development of the mainland's financial market and better serve the real economy.

Hong Kong’s financial watchdogs are set to host a meeting to bring bankers and crypto firms together on April 28, according to a report by Bloomberg News.

Hong Kong regulators are set to hold a roundtable meeting between Hong Kong-based crypto firms and bankers to ease financing for the sector. The meeting will take place on April 28 at the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and will facilitate "direct dialogue" and "share practical experiences and perspectives in opening and maintaining bank accounts." The HKMA and the Securities and Futures Commission will jointly hold the sessions, and these two regulators oversee crypto exchanges and stablecoins. Establishing banking relationships and offering corporate accounts to crypto firms with proper KYC and AML rules is a major challenge for Hong Kong regulators, but Chinese banks are extending help to Hong Kong-based crypto firms. (coingape)

Hong Kong regulators are convening a meeting between crypto firms and bankers in a bid to ease financing for the sector as the city seeks to establish itself as a hub for virtual assets.