Hong Kong’s government reaffirmed on October 5, 2026 that it will introduce a bill before the end of the year creating licensing regimes for virtual asset dealing, custody, advisory and management services, extending the city’s existing crypto oversight beyond trading platforms and stablecoin issuers.
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui outlined the timeline during a briefing to the Legislative Council’s Panel on Financial Affairs on Hong Kong’s First Five-Year Plan and the 2026 Policy Address. The amendment bill would require every firm that trades, holds, advises on, or manages cryptocurrency for clients to hold a license from the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), following the government’s “same business, same risks, same rules” approach: the dealing regime draws on Type 1 securities-dealing rules, advisory on Type 4, and management on Type 9.
The plan builds on two completed public consultations. The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) and SFC closed consultation on dealing and custody licensing in December 2025 after receiving more than 190 responses, and concluded a separate consultation on advisory and management rules in January 2026 after 51 responses. Both tracks were folded into a single legislative package confirmed in May 2026. Hong Kong already requires SFC authorization for virtual asset trading platforms, and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) licenses stablecoin issuers under the Stablecoins Ordinance, in force since August 1, 2025; the first two stablecoin issuer licenses were granted in April 2026.
The bill must still be introduced to and pass through the Legislative Council before the new licenses take effect, and the government has not set a commencement date, crypto.news reported. The SFC has encouraged firms already offering or planning to offer dealing, custody, advisory or management services to begin discussions with regulators ahead of the law.
The timing also sharpens a comparison with the United States, where crypto regulation remains unsettled, Yahoo Finance’s 24/7 Wall St. column noted: the CLARITY Act failed a Senate test in September 2026, and the Securities and Exchange Commission only proposed in early October 2026 to let investment advisers hold Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for clients — a path that, unlike enacted legislation, can be revised by a future administration.
References
Legislative Council of Hong Kong – Panel on Financial Affairs Meeting on 5 October 2026: Briefing by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury / crypto.news – Hong Kong Plans New Licenses Across 4 Crypto Services / Yahoo Finance (24/7 Wall St.) – Hong Kong Will License Crypto Brokers, Custodians and Advisers. Is It Overtaking the US as the Regulated Market?
