The Accounting and Financial Reporting Council is hiring additional talent to oversee AI and virtual asset regulation, and plans to inspect companies involved in virtual asset trading

According to the Hong Kong Economic Times, the Accounting and Financial Reporting Council (AFRC) submitted a proposed budget for the next fiscal year to the Hong Kong Legislative Council, suggesting a salary increase of 3.5% to support regulatory work in key and emerging areas such as artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual assets, and recommending the addition of 15 positions.

It is reported that the AFRC previously released a report stating that companies involved in virtual asset trading belong to emerging industry projects and will be one of the targets for inspection. In addition, auditors currently face challenges including verifying the ownership and existence of virtual assets, the complexity of valuations, increased fraud risks, and the lack of unified accounting standards for virtual assets.