Hong Kong is looking to position itself as a hub for business in Asia.
Background
- In an effort to foster the same, regulators have chalked out policy guidelines focussed on the AI-finance intersection
- Alongside, they have also proposed a tax break for crypto and other virtual assets
- Regulators across banking, securities, pensions and insurance and audit will now start floating around their own circulars pertaining to AI regulations in the financial sector
Why should you pay attention?
- The government has promised legislation by the end of 2024 with respect to tax breaks on the ownership of digital assets
- Hong Kong is looking to loop back investors who abandoned its markets owing to amplified US-Chinese tensions
- Regulators have acknowledged both the risks and opportunities presented by AI
- In retrospect, they are bound to take a dual-track approach to foster development and address challenges simultaneously
Who said what?
- Christopher Hui, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury said,
“Hong Kong’s financial sector has what it takes to promote AI adoption — sizable markets and rich scenarios”
- With the intention to cement its position within the crypto arena, the government has proposed the extension of tax breaks for family offices and private funds to include investment in virtual assets
- Hui asserted,
The move will “further recognize its role for asset allocation”
Zooming out
- The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology is also set to come up with a native large language model — InvestLM
- This model will be available to the local financial services industry and offer services revolving around advisory and training
- Furthermore, it will fine-tune models and instigate the development of AI, tailored to local market regulations
In other related news
- Hong Kong regulators have pledged to roll out more licenses for crypto exchanges by the end of 2024
- The Securities and Futures Commission [SFC] has concluded on-site checks
- Parallelly, it has laid out steps for entities to secure full licenses
- In another development that shaped up on Monday, the stock exchange Hong Kong, HKEX, disclosed plans to roll out a Virtual Asset Index Series
- This tool will provide additional benchmarks for Bitcoin and Ether pricing in Asia-Pacific timezones
