The Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission has embraced the everchanging landscape of virtual assets, and has implemented a comprehensive dual-license structure – an established licensing framework within the Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO) to cover ‘security tokens’, combined with stringent anti-money laundering (AML) regulations for ‘non-security tokens’. That said, these new guidelines are going to become enforceable starting June 2023. Virtual asset exchanges initially claimed the will require to meet the securities regulations as previously were already in place, along with operating requirement from the newly enforced AML regulations.
At present, major virtual asset players including OSL exchange and HASCHKEY Exchange have applied for the ‘non -security token’ license, while still awaiting to be accepted. This highlights the regulators perspicuous review of non- compliance with new armful regulations, particularily emphasizing this dual-license form as far-sighted in all potential virtual asset markets – as it is dedicated to develop both lead innovation and blockchain safety.
On an international outlook, the dual-license paradigm originated will serve as a framework for somehow copying the Hong Kongs built ecosystem which gurantees a fruitful connection between safeguarding towards wrongintitting through money, fosterring innovative thoughts and being adaptive towards the inconstant crypto marker stats.
