Hong Kong will study the establishment of a one-stop multi-asset class post-trade securities platform, covering Mainland and Hong Kong equity and debt securities, and also plans to set up an asset platform for the issuance and settlement of digital bonds.  

In his 2026-27 Budget speech, Financial Secretary Paul Chan remarked that the post-trade platform will enhance cross-product and cross-boundary collateral connectivity. He said the digital asset platform, to be established this year, will enhance asset management efficiency.

The establishment of a post-trade securities platform is to be studied by the Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s CMU OmniClear Holdings Limited (CMU OmniClear), which is also working to establish links with central securities depositories in other regions to facilitate holdings of securities in the Central Moneymarkets Unit.

CMU Omniclear will also establish the digital asset platform. Once up and running, it will be expanded from digital bonds to include other digital assets and linked with other tokenisation platforms in the region.

In addition, Mr Chan explained that the Government is committed to developing non-traditional risk management, and has extended the Pilot Insurance-linked Securities Grant Scheme to 2028.

With regard to financial inclusivity, the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA) will this year provide MPF “Full Portability” to employees whose employment commenced on or after 1 May 2025. Legislation will be introduced next year to extend the coverage to anyone whose employment began before that date.

To better protect employees’ MPF benefits, the MPFA proposes to enhance the process of recovering default contributions from employers. The Insurance Authority will also enhance the risk-based capital regime for insurance companies, and the industry will be required to adopt a standardised checklist for capital adequacy disclosure.

Moreover, to strengthen regulation of money lenders, the Government will next month announce measures to address excessive borrowing.

In terms of international co-operation, the Government is working closely with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank after it announced plans at the end of last year to set up an office in Hong Kong. In addition, Hong Kong will host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Finance Ministers’ Meeting for the first time this year, and will continue to stage financial mega events such as the Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit, the Wealth for Good in Hong Kong Summit, and the Hong Kong Fintech Week x StartmeupHK Festival.