President of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority: The level of encryption supervision in various regions has begun to converge, which will help reduce regulatory arbitrage caused by different standards

According to "Ming Pao" report, Yu Weiwen, President of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, said during his visit to the United Arab Emirates that in the past, Hong Kong had strict regulations on virtual assets, and the procedures were almost prohibited. regulatory arbitrage. In response to rumors that the HKMA had earlier questioned that many large banks in Hong Kong did not accept virtual asset exchange account openings, Yu Weiwen responded that the authorities have always communicated with the banks. Because virtual assets are still a new project, the banking regulatory framework and operational requirements have always been aimed at traditional financial businesses, so the industry must constantly update its understanding and clarify its regulatory expectations with the authorities. He pointed out that once a financial institution is licensed, its operations will be reviewed by regulatory agencies, and the authorities have anti-money laundering and customer account verification requirements for banks. Banks must follow the principle of "risk-based" and review each customer individually. The program then decides whether to open an account or not. Last year, the Monetary Authority and the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates, the Bank for International Settlements, the People's Bank of China and the Central Bank of Thailand conducted a cross-border central bank digital currency payment test, using the digital bridge platform to settle real cross-border transactions for enterprises. Yu Weiwen said that the goal is to launch the "simplest feasible product" early next year. It is expected that more central banks will join the platform, but he hopes to maintain a manageable scale in the initial stage. He pointed out that the current difficulty lies in who is responsible for managing the platform, or whether it should be decentralized, and how to adapt to local regulatory rules, provide liquidity, and collect relevant collateral.