Hong Kong rolls out policy statement, moves to nurture fintech

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government on Monday unveiled a policy statement on the responsible application of artificial intelligence (AI) in the financial market to spur the development of financial technology while managing risks.

As an international financial center, Hong Kong is open and inclusive towards the application of AI in the financial market, said the statement.

It said that the HKSAR government will adopt a dual-track approach to promote the development of AI adoption by the financial services sector, while at the same time addressing potential challenges, such as cybersecurity, data privacy and the protection of intellectual property rights.

The HKSAR government will work hand in hand with the financial regulators and industry players to foster a healthy and sustainable market environment, thereby facilitating financial institutions to seize the opportunities and adopt AI in a responsible manner, said Christopher Hui, secretary for financial services and the treasury of the HKSAR government.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) on Monday vowed to accelerate asset tokenization, promote cross-boundary digital payments, and empower banks to go fintech.

The HKMA said it established new cross-border partnerships with the Central Bank of Brazil and the Bank of Thailand, respectively, to explore cross-border tokenization use cases under Project Ensemble. The project had supported tokenization and central bank digital currency initiatives within the HKMA.

The HKMA is also looking to pilot a linkage between Hong Kong's Faster Payment System and the mainland's Internet Banking Payment System.

Fintech Connect, Hong Kong's first cross-sectoral sourcing platform, was launched on Monday to connect financial institutions with fintech solution providers, according to the HKMA. This platform is expected to help promote precise matching of supply and demand for fintech services.