Regulatory Approach to Digital Assets in Hong Kong and Singapore

Due to the growing popularity of digital assets, governments and regulators have had to examine their legal and regulatory frameworks to develop new laws to regulate market activities relating to this asset class, including and not limited to the management of fraud, market manipulation and anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) risks presented by anonymized digital asset activities.

Unsurprisingly, digital assets were the focus of various announcements issued during Hong Kong's and Singapore's respective Fintech Week events held in early November 2022. This Legal Update provides an overview of the key developments in the evolution of the current approach to the regulation of digital assets in both jurisdictions, in particular: 

• the definition of digital assets;
• evolution of the current regulatory framework in Hong Kong;
• evolution of the current regulatory framework in Singapore; and
• upcoming legislation and consultations in both jurisdictions.

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