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According to Bloomberg, informed sources say that underwriters for SpaceX's approximately $75 billion initial public offering (IPO) have been told not to accept subscription orders from investors in mainland China and Hong Kong, due to U.S. restrictions on the export of critical technologies. The lead underwriter for the transaction has further notified other banks in the underwriting syndicate that clients from mainland China and Hong Kong, including private banking clients, are not allowed to participate in placing orders.The report states that this move is primarily due to regulatory and compliance risk considerations, and the related arrangements have not been publicly disclosed.

According to the official announcement, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority have published a joint consultation summary regarding the amendments to the over-the-counter derivatives trading regulations under the Clearing Rules. In light of the broad market support, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority will proceed with the legislative process to introduce the proposed amendments to the Clearing Rules, with plans to implement the relevant amendments starting from March 1, 2027 (the proposed start date for the new calculation period).

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced today the establishment of a Tokenized Bond Expert Group, bringing together industry representatives with relevant experience and a focus on the development of the tokenized bond market in Hong Kong, to further promote the application and expansion potential of tokenized bonds in Hong Kong.The members of the expert group include representatives from industry associations, financial institutions, legal advisory firms, as well as financial infrastructure and technology providers. Building on the progress made by the Monetary Authority in various tokenized bond-related initiatives to date, the expert group will jointly explore policy measures, market practices, and innovative solutions.

According to hket, Hong Kong's Acting Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Chen Haolian, stated that the authorities will submit legislative proposals to the Legislative Council within the year regarding the provision of virtual asset services and management, promoting the establishment of a comprehensive regulatory system covering trading, custody, advisory, and asset management, and implementing a mandatory licensing arrangement.The new framework will be advanced according to the principle of "same business, same risk, same rules," aligning with the current regulated activities under the Securities and Futures Ordinance, and will focus on strengthening private key management and client asset security requirements in virtual asset custody.The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission stated that the current applications for licenses related to virtual assets continue to increase, but licensing will adhere to the principle of "quality over quantity," balancing market capacity and quality.

In a recent speech, the Chairman of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, Huang Tianyou, revealed that the trading volume of 12 licensed virtual asset trading platforms in Hong Kong has exceeded HKD 640 billion for 2025, with the trading volume in the first quarter of this year increasing nearly threefold year-on-year.In addition, brokers engaged in virtual asset-related businesses saw their commission income related to this sector grow by over 80% year-on-year last year.

From June 7 to 9, 2026, the Global Digital Finance Ecosystem Forum, co-hosted by XAUT ECO, the Binance community, and ListaDAO, will be held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.The forum will conduct in-depth discussions on core topics such as decentralized security and stablecoin payment permissions, the global circulation and regulation of gold-backed stablecoins, the on-chain representation of real-world assets (RWA), Web3 payments and on-chain settlement, and the USD1 stablecoin ecosystem and global liquidity.The event aims to bring together global digital finance institutions and ecosystem partners to jointly explore the evolutionary path of digital gold and stablecoins, promoting the co-construction and development of a new global digital finance ecosystem.

It has been reported that banks in the Hong Kong region are tightening account openings. According to informed sources, in accordance with the requirements of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, some banks in the Hong Kong region will start tightening the opening of investment accounts from May 26, including the need to sign paper declarations, but there is currently no impact on savings accounts.

Hua Xia Fund (Hong Kong) announced the official launch of the tokenized gold exchange-traded fund "Hua Xia Digital Gold ETF," which will be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on May 29, 2026. This fund relies on a native blockchain architecture, with physical gold stored in institutional-grade vaults in Hong Kong, adopting a physical replication strategy and not involving futures or other derivative investments.

Bloomberg's senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas posted on the X platform that the 2x leveraged SK Hynix ETF has grown its asset size by about 10 times this year, and it has now become the third largest ETF in the Hong Kong market, accounting for approximately 8.5% of total ETF assets.Eric Balchunas also pointed out that the ETF's daily trading volume exceeds the $1 billion level. When calculated in terms of the U.S. market size equivalent, this is about $150 billion in daily trading volume, which is considered extremely rare in the global ETF market. If proportionally converted, the scale of this ETF in the U.S. market would be equivalent to about $1.3 trillion level ETFs, but products of this magnitude do not currently exist globally.

According to a report by the Financial Associated Press, in response to the issue of "some banks in the Hong Kong region requiring a declaration to open investment accounts," the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) responded today that the relevant regulatory requirements were issued to all recognized institutions on May 22.Materials provided by the HKMA indicate that registered institutions must take three additional measures when opening and managing investment accounts for mainland investors, including:Closing investment accounts opened using suspicious or forged documents, identifying customer investment accounts that have used suspicious or forged documents since January 2023 or during any other period specified by the HKMA; relevant documents include identification documents.Closing investment accounts with zero balance that have been inactive, specifically referring to investment accounts held by mainland investors that have had no asset balance as of May 22, 2026 (reference date), and have had no activity initiated by the customer in the 12 months prior to the reference date.When opening new investment accounts, obtaining a written declaration from the mainland investor confirming that all funds used to support investment activities and related settlements come from legal sources outside mainland China.Relevant documents show that the newly added additional regulatory measures apply only to investment accounts, including investment accounts within comprehensive bank accounts; non-investment functions (such as regular savings, time deposits, payments, loans, and credit cards) are not within the scope of these measures. Additionally, the applicable subjects of these additional measures are individual customers and do not apply to corporate or institutional clients.

According to Jinshi News, the Hong Kong Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau and the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission have released a consultation summary regarding the regulatory framework for virtual asset provision and management services. The proposed licensing system for virtual asset provision and management received broad support from the market during the consultation period.The new licensing system will follow the principle of "same business, same risk, same rules," and its scope will be consistent with the regulated activities under the Securities and Futures Ordinance. This series of new systems will enhance participation in Hong Kong's digital asset market and help build a robust and secure ecosystem.

In response to the China Securities Regulatory Commission's announcement regarding the rectification of illegal cross-border securities, futures, and fund operations and related penalties, Wang Shan, Chief Operating Officer of Tiger Brokers (Hong Kong) Global Limited, stated that the company is aware of the relevant notice issued by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC). The company indicated that the relevant notice does not directly apply to its Hong Kong entity, as the company holds a license issued by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and operates independently under its regulation.

The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) issued a circular outlining the monitoring measures that should be implemented when opening accounts and maintaining client relationships. This circular was issued after the SFC reviewed the account opening practices of 12 securities brokerage firms.The review identified several significant deficiencies, including insufficient due diligence on account opening documents, acceptance of suspicious or forged documents during the account opening process, and weaknesses in managing cross-border agency relationships with overseas intermediaries. The SFC expressed deep concern about the potential misuse of client accounts for suspicious or illegal transactions, which could exacerbate the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing.The SFC requires all licensed corporations to conduct internal checks as soon as practicable to detect whether any suspicious or forged documents have been accepted for account opening. The SFC also outlined additional measures for licensed corporations when opening and managing accounts for mainland investors.These additional measures include closing investment accounts opened with suspicious or forged documents, closing zero-balance dormant investment accounts, and requiring a written declaration from investors when opening new investment accounts, stipulating that settlements and fund withdrawals can only be conducted through bank accounts held in the investor's own name at qualified banks.

Institutions such as Anchorpoint Financial, OSL Group, and PantherTrade have successfully completed Hong Kong's first approved stablecoin HKDAP's initial end-to-end financial transaction on the Ethereum public blockchain. This digital asset operates under the supervision of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.The technical execution was jointly completed by Anchorpoint Financial, a fintech company supported by Standard Chartered Hong Kong, and digital brokers OSL Group and PantherTrade. In this blockchain test, participants directly converted traditional physical Hong Kong dollars into reserve assets, triggering the minting of on-chain digital balances, and after the transaction was completed, exchanged the tokens back to fiat bank balances through a redemption agreement.Standard Chartered provided the custody framework and trust services for this. The stablecoin is scheduled to begin phased public issuance by the end of the second quarter of this year.

According to Bloomberg, the three founders of Manus are exploring various options to meet Beijing's demand for the withdrawal of the deal acquired by Meta, including raising about $1 billion from external investors to repurchase the China-founded agentic AI business at a valuation of at least not lower than Meta's original acquisition price of $2 billion.Insiders say that the founders may cover the gap out of their own pockets and plan to establish a joint venture with new investors in China, followed by an application for listing in Hong Kong. Negotiations are still in the early stages, with several obstacles remaining, including how to separate the deeply integrated Manus technology and team from the Meta system, as well as the specific arrangements for the deal structure.

According to a news release from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Hong Kong police announced that they have joined law enforcement agencies from 9 countries and regions, including Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand, to combat cross-border fraud and money laundering activities. This operation took place from March 10 to May 7, resulting in the arrest of 3,018 individuals, involving over 138,000 fraud cases, with total losses of approximately $752 million (about HKD 5.89 billion).During the operation, law enforcement agencies froze a total of 101,989 bank accounts and successfully intercepted approximately $161 million (about HKD 1.26 billion) in fraudulent funds. Among them, the Hong Kong police arrested 870 individuals and intercepted approximately HKD 539 million in funds. The largest case involved a Singapore company that was defrauded of $36 million (about HKD 280 million), with the related funds subsequently flowing into multiple bank accounts in Hong Kong and other regions. About half of this amount was converted into stablecoins and dispersed into different virtual asset wallets, with the police successfully freezing $20 million of these funds after tracking.Investigations show that money laundering through virtual asset platforms is on the rise, and various regions need to continue enhancing their capabilities to respond to crimes involving virtual assets through intelligence sharing and collaborative mechanisms.

According to the updated information on the official website of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, NewBX Limited's digital asset trading platform Bixin has obtained a license to operate a virtual asset trading platform. The institution is authorized to conduct regulated activities under Type 1 (securities trading) and Type 7 (providing automated trading services). It has also been licensed under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance to operate a virtual asset trading platform.As of now, the number of licensed virtual asset trading platforms in Hong Kong has increased to 13, with 6 applicants for virtual asset trading platforms.

According to the South China Morning Post, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Hui Ching-yu, stated that gold can serve as a potential bridge between traditional finance and new finance. Hong Kong needs to provide more development opportunities for the digital asset market to support its sustainable growth. He also mentioned that based on the trend of "integration" between traditional finance and innovative finance, Hong Kong has not chosen to establish an independent regulatory body for digital assets. Hui Ching-yu noted that both gold ETFs and blockchain-based tokenized gold products have emerged in the market simultaneously.Previously, HSBC and Hang Seng Investment launched Hong Kong's first tokenized non-listed Hang Seng Gold ETF category product on HashKey Exchange in April.