OSL Group Chief Financial Officer Hu Zhenbang believes that Hong Kong has great advantages in developing the virtual asset market, including low tax rates, clear legal systems, and perfect investor protection. Moreover, Hong Kong is an important financing choice for international funds, gathering financial elites from various countries. With the support of the motherland, Hong Kong has the conditions to develop into the leader of the Asian virtual asset market in terms of talents, resources and policies. Hu Zhenbang said that Hong Kong has obvious advantages in developing virtual assets. The first is the tax rate. Hong Kong's investment in virtual assets will not be subject to capital gains tax, which is very attractive to global investors. For example, although Japan and Australia have developed the virtual asset market earlier than Hong Kong, the two countries need to pay capital gains tax. The relevant taxes will be included in the comprehensive tax rate calculation. Japan's comprehensive tax rate is as high as 50%, while Australia's is 40%. For investors, returns are the most important consideration, and Hong Kong's low tax system will attract more international investors. In addition, the attitude of banks is also very important. Hu Zhenbang explained that since there have been incidents of "money laundering" involving virtual assets all over the world in the past, banks attach great importance to related risks. Some institutional investors of virtual assets have encountered the same problem in different countries, that is, it is very difficult to open bank accounts. For example, many large banks in Japan refuse to allow these funds to open accounts. However, Hong Kong banks are open-minded, and many Chinese banks welcome these institutions that specialize in investing in virtual assets to open accounts.
Hu Zhenbang said that after the licensing system takes effect, the account opening process alone, including identity authentication, will be strictly regulated, and the SAR government has been very positive about the development of virtual assets in recent years, and new policies have been introduced almost every quarter to promote market development.
He also revealed that a licensing system for cryptocurrency "money changers" may be introduced in the short term. In addition, the SAR government has introduced various regulatory measures, including anti-money laundering and prevention of hackers, and has taken the initiative to assume the responsibility of promoting market standardization and actively explored relevant policy formulation options, which makes Hong Kong's advantages in the development of the virtual asset market more and more obvious.
He said that the characteristics of Hong Kong's virtual asset licenses also expand the advantages of the entire market. At present, Hong Kong's licenses for crypto assets can provide both cryptocurrency trading and security tokens (STOs), which is more convenient than Singapore and the United States, because most licenses in other countries and regions can only provide one of the services, not both, just like Coinbase (COIN.US), which has been listed in the United States, whose license can only provide cryptocurrency trading. (Ta Kung Pao)
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