Hong Kong’s first national security law convict among 4 released early, sources say
The first person convicted in Hong Kong under the Beijing-imposed national security law and three others jailed in related high-profile cases have been released early, the South China Morning Post has learned. Sources said Tong Ying-kit, who was sentenced in July 2021 to nine years in prison for inciting secession and engaging in terrorist activities, had been granted early release. The news…
Hong Kong's five-year fintech strategy, Fintech 2030, was unveiled at the city's annual FinTech Week conference, with a focus on advancing AI and tokenisation in financial services while strengthening its position as a fintech hub. The strategy emphasizes four priorities: enhancing the city's data and payment infrastructure, promoting responsible AI adoption in financial services, strengthening cybersecurity resilience, and accelerating tokenisation use cases.
Tokenisation has already seen progress, with 17 tokenised public funds and bonds authorized, totaling US$1.3 billion – a 34% increase from the previous year. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) plans to advance its tokenisation sandbox, Project Ensemble, into a new stage, where tokenised central bank money will serve as a foundation layer for round-the-clock cross-border settlement.
The HKMA also introduced Project Sage, an initiative focused on the use of AI agents in financial services, which will bring together an industry panel to develop agentic AI use cases and improve governance. In response to looming cybersecurity threats from quantum computing, the city's de facto central bank aims to achieve "full readiness" by 2030.
While Hong Kong has stepped up efforts in developing its digital asset sector, high compliance costs pose a challenge to market growth. The city's digital asset framework, which includes licensing regimes for crypto exchanges, stablecoin issuers, and advisory firms, has been finalized, reflecting a strategic choice to prioritize financial stability and investor protection over volume growth.
Currently, Hong Kong accounts for only about US$305 million of global US dollar-backed stablecoin issuance, trailing behind other Asian economies such as Singapore.
Despite the challenges, the outlook for Hong Kong's fintech industry remains positive, provided the city can integrate fintech more deeply into mainstream finance over the next five years. This integration would involve connecting tokenisation, digital assets, and payments with the city's existing strengths as an international financial center, rather than treating fintech as a separate ecosystem.
Written by urgent.news from SCMP Tech's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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