HKMA has approved HSBC and Standard Chartered.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has officially published its first set of 2026 stablecoin licenses under the Stablecoins Ordinance Act. Global banks HSBC and Standard Chartered have been named after months of speculation and a range of stablecoin issuer applicants.
Chief Executive of HKMA Eddie Yue expressed:
The regulatory regime provides an orderly operating environment for stablecoin issuers to apply innovative technologies while ensuring robust user protection and effective risk management, which will foster the development of a healthy, responsible, and sustainable stablecoin ecosystem.
The March timeline for this license launch was mentioned back in January during the Davos conference in Switzerland, and over the last few weeks, many in the industry have been growing slightly weary of continued delays as it seemed progress may slow in the region.
Interestingly, no private stablecoin issuers have been named at this point in time. All licensed stablecoin issuers can be found under HKMA’s official database.
