HKMA to Grant First Stablecoin Licenses in March 2026

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) plans to grant the first stablecoin issuer licenses in March 2026 under the Stablecoins Ordinance, which came into force on August 1, 2025. HKMA will approve an initial tranche of issuers drawn from 36 applications that have completed initial reviews and it has requested supplementary materials on reserve composition, distribution controls, and operational readiness. The public register currently shows no licensed issuers and will be updated after decisions are finalized. HKMA evaluation will assess end-to-end risk management, AML and sanctions controls, governance, the liquidity and valuation methodology of backing assets, settlement, redemption and wallet operations under stress scenarios, and cross-border compliance with potential mutual recognition subject to peer alignment. A 2024 sandbox included banks such as Standard Chartered Bank Hong Kong and technology firms testing issuance, custody and distribution processes. Licensed stablecoins can provide a regulated rail for tokenized settlement and be used for tokenized securities settlement, intraday liquidity for trading venues, programmable treasury settlement, and controlled client on and off ramps. Applicants must present audited reserve compositions and valuation methods, demonstrate governance and board-level oversight, integrate AML and sanctions screening into on and off ramp flows, document incident response and reporting, and provide attestations and independent reserve audits via the licensing channel outlined in the Explanatory Note. Regulators will observe issuer performance during the first six months after March to assess responses to demand spikes, redemption pressure and operational incidents, and that period will set norms for disclosures, reserve quality and attestation frequency. Key near-term items to watch are the identities of initial licensees, the final reserve disclosure framework and attestation frequency, mandated distribution and wallet controls, and any mutual recognition or cross-border supervisory cooperation signals. 

Source: https://web3businessnews.com/policy/hong-kong-stablecoin-licenses-march/

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