Hong Kong’s ZA Bank allowed to hold reserve assets for stablecoin issuers

Za Bank, the largest virtual bank in Hong Kong, is set to offer its services to stablecoin issuers. The move comes after authorities announced plans to introduce a stablecoin licensing scheme.

According to a statement, ZA Bank is the first digital bank in Hong Kong to offer these services. As part of Hong Kong’s new stablecoin regulations, ZA Bank will hold reserve assets from stablecoin issuers.

Stablecoin sandbox underway

The HKMA unveiled its first list of participants in the stablecoin sandbox on July 18. RD InnoTech, in partnership with ZA Bank, is one of the first companies listed for the trials.

Alongside RD InnoTech, notable participants include JD.com’s subsidiary JINGDONG Coinlink Technology Hong Kong.

Other participants include banking giant Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong), VC firm Animoca Brands, and Hong Kong Telecommunications, among others.

According to Ronald Lu, CEO of ZA Bank, offering banking services to stablecoin issuers would help merge and bolster innovation in the traditional banking sector.

We are pleased to see such progress with the sandbox initiative. By providing a secure and reliable banking infrastructure with greater security for users, we aim to build greater trust and confidence in the stablecoin market.

ZA Bank is also in talks with 10 other stablecoin issuers, but specific details about these entities were not disclosed.

These entities showed “genuine interest” in developing a stablecoin issuance market in Hong Kong, according to the HKMA, adding:

[..] Their proposed operations under the sandbox arrangement would be conducted within a limited scope and in a risk-controllable manner.

Initially, the sandbox would not involve using the general public’s funds. Soliciting funds from the public or offering products related to the sandbox is also prohibited at the moment.

Regulating the stablecoin sector

Meanwhile, after a two-month public consultation period that ended in February, the  Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) and the HKMA released the results of its stablecoin consultation paper on July 17.

The public consultation received submissions from 108 entities, including market participants, industry associations, and professional organisations. The majority of the participants endorsed the establishment of a stablecoin licensing scheme.

Eddie Yue, the HKMA’s chief executive, highlighted the importance of a well-regulated environment, noting that it would help with the “sustainable and responsible development” of the stablecoin sector in Hong Kong.

The framework is set to be presented to lawmakers by the end of 2024.

As previously reported by Invezz, Hong Kong is also looking to bolster its metaverse and decentralised finance sector. The Hong Kong Institute for Monetary and Financial Research (HKIMR) recently reported these areas as key to expanding Hong Kong’s fintech sector.

The organisation suggested developing centralised DeFi (CeDeFi) models in this regard.

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