On 24 December 2025, Hong Kong’s Financial Services and Treasury Bureau (FSTB) and Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) published the consultation conclusions on the proposal to regulate Virtual Asset (VA) dealing and custodian services. They also issued a further consultation on proposals to establish separate licensing regimes for VA advisory and management service providers.
Background: these proposals include the requirement for substantial shareholding in the VA dealer or VA custodian services to satisfy fit and proper testing. The FSTB and SFC have now published the consultation conclusions and plan to proceed with the legislative proposals for the licensing regimes.
In response to market feedback, the FSTB and SFC also propose to introduce separate licensing regimes for VA advisory and VA management service providers, and the further consultation asks for feedback on that proposal. The deadline for responding to the further consultation is on or before 23 January 2026.
Next Steps: The FSTB and the SFC plan to introducing a bill into the Legislative Council in 2026 establishing licensing regimes for VA dealing, VA custodian services, VA advisory and VA management service providers.
