Outline of Hong Kong’s first stablecoin licences emerges… Standard Chartered, HSBC and OSL seen as front-runners

Hong Kong’s financial regulators are expected to unveil the first list of licences for stablecoin issuers later this month. Standard Chartered (SC), The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC), and OSL—Hong Kong’s first licensed virtual-asset exchange—are being cited as the three leading contenders. By contrast, Chinese companies that had been mentioned in the market are said to have been excluded from the final list.

According to local reports on the 13th, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) could announce the first batch of approved stablecoin-issuer licence holders as early as next week. The timing is seen as taking into account that China’s “two sessions” will fully conclude this Friday.

Sources said the initial shortlist comprised five companies but was ultimately narrowed to three. Roundcoin Technology (Onbi Tech · RD Technologies), founded by former HKMA chief executive Norman Chan, and digital payments firm Lianlian Digital are reported not to have made the final list.

An industry source said that “a multi-layered framework, including technical factors, must be taken into account in the stablecoin issuance process,” adding that “given the strict regulatory regime applied to note-issuing banks, the final list is likely to be skewed toward established large banks to secure market trust and stability.”

Among the leading candidates, SC is the only participant in the HKMA’s existing stablecoin sandbox. Chinese-capital companies such as Jingdong Coinlink Technology and Roundcoin Technology, which had taken part in the sandbox, are understood to have fallen short.

In October last year, the Financial Times (FT) reported that Chinese big-tech groups including Ant Group, an Alibaba affiliate, and JD.com had temporarily halted plans to issue stablecoins in Hong Kong. The move was seen as influenced by concerns voiced by officials at the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), who viewed currency issuance by tech firms and brokerages as a challenge to the digital yuan (e-CNY), and advised them to hold off on participating in the first phase.

Meanwhile, OSL, which has been mentioned as a candidate, launched a compliant stablecoin for professional investors, ‘USDGO’, last month. HSBC chief executive Georges Elhedery also said earlier this month that the bank is taking an open stance toward the development of Hong Kong’s stablecoin market and is actively engaging with the HKMA.

Regarding the approval list, an HKMA spokesperson and Roundcoin Technology—cited as having been dropped—both declined to comment, saying they would “not comment on market rumours.”