Latest news with #JohnnyNg
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hong Kong Joins Global Race With New Stablecoin Licensing Bill
Hong Kong passed a stablecoin bill that will enable the region to establish a licensing regime for fiat-backed stablecoin issuers. "Hong Kong's stablecoins are backed by fiat currency as underlying assets, and we welcome global enterprises and institutions interested in issuing stablecoins to apply in Hong Kong," legislative council member Johnny Ng said on X on Wednesday. Institutions are expected to be able to apply for a license from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority by the year-end. Hong Kong has been working on establishing a stablecoin regime since 2023. The nation had published a consultation paper on stablecoin guidelines towards the end of 2023. It later introduced the Stablecoin Bill, which the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passed in its third reading, Ng's post said. The region has been looking to keep up with nations around the world that have been establishing their stablecoin regimes. The European Union started licensing stablecoin issuers last year after passing its wide-ranging bespoke crypto bill, called the Markets in Crypto Assets regulation (MiCa). Meanwhile, the U.S. has a stablecoin bill that is passing through Congress, and the U.K. has been gathering feedback on draft legislation that will also affect stablecoins. The stablecoin sector has become the hottest trend in recent years, with both crypto and TradFi firms ramping up their exposure to the industry. Ben Reynolds, BitGo's managing director of stablecoins, said at Consensus 2025 that large banks are increasingly taking notice of the industry, largely out of fear that they will lose market share to the digital dollars.
RTHK
12-05-2025
- Business
- RTHK
‘HK ideal platform to reach out to new markets'
'HK ideal platform to reach out to new markets' Joe Chen (left) and Johnny Ng spoke of Hong Kong's role as a super connector for both mainland and overseas firms. Photo: RTHK A leading Chinese digital bank says Hong Kong provides the ideal platform for mainland enterprises to reach out to Belt and Road markets, citing the city's strengths in technology and global network. That's according to Joe Chen, the executive vice president of WeBank who's one of two dozen mainland businessmen currently on the chief executive's trade delegation to the Middle East. The entrepreneur - on behalf of WeBank - struck a number of memoranda of understanding (MoU) in Doha on Monday. They included the only tripartite agreement among the 35 signed, putting pen to paper a partnership framework with Goldford Group in Hong Kong, and Klickl Technology in Qatar. The Shenzhen-based digital bank which specialises in fintech has set up a subsidiary in the SAR last year. 'So this newly established entity in Hong Kong allows us to use Hong Kong as the platform to reach out to [Belt and Road] initiative countries to better promote our technology platform,' he told the press after the MoU ceremony. 'So Hong Kong will be serving as our I&T centre and also sales centre, and also allows us to also be involved in the Web 3.0 ecosystem that Hong Kong is building. 'All these things will be a great platform for us to launch (our) business internationally.' Goldford, meanwhile, is an investment firm which funds emerging tech startups. Chairman Johnny Ng, who's also a lawmaker, was asked if there was a concrete timetable for collaboration. 'Actually this is a mid to long-term cooperation,' he said at the same event. 'In the short term, we have considered to invest some budget to localise the products and then to tailor-made for some localised users. 'But in the long run, I think we need to have more training and support to do some incubation and accelerations to a local enterprise in order to make sure the whole business lifecycle and also the ecosystem can be built and suitable for themselves to use.' Ng added it is difficult to give an estimate on the amount of money involved, saying multiple injections would be needed at different stages of cooperation.
