Julia Leung: Steering Hong Kong Towards Becoming a Crypto Powerhouse

• Julia Leung: The First Female CEO of Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission (SFC)
• Leung's Background and Experience
• Retooling Hong Kong as a Crypto Hub
• The Regulatory Landscape
• Shifting Strategy on Crypto Investment
• Playing a Key Role in Crypto Development

Julia Leung: The First Female CEO of Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission (SFC)

Julia Leung assumed the role of CEO at Hong Kong's SFC in January 2023, marking a significant milestone by becoming the first woman to hold this position. Her term of office aligns with Hong Kong's burgeoning efforts to carve a niche for itself as a prominent hub for digital assets.

Leung's Background and Experience

Despite having an unconventional background as a former journalist for The Asian Wall Street Journal, Leung has amassed over 25 years of experience in public service. She has widespread knowledge in financial regulation, market development, and international cooperation, having served at the Hong Kong Monetary Authority for 14 years. Here, she rose to the role of executive director responsible for financial cooperation with Mainland China and international regulators.

Retooling Hong Kong as a Crypto Hub

Leung and her team have been diligently working to position Hong Kong as a leading location for cryptocurrency. She stated at the 2023 Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference, Cryptocurrency platforms are part of the whole Web3 ecosystem and we are very supportive of the development of the whole Internet ecosystem.

The Regulatory Landscape

In a pioneering move, at the start of 2023, the SFC allowed licensed retail trading for a select set of cryptocurrencies, albeit with various restrictions. Leung announced at the Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong that only highly liquid assets would be selected.

In February, Hong Kong's SFC issued proposed rules for virtual asset trading platforms and collected public feedback. Then, in June, post the release of Beijing's Web3 white paper, a new licensing regime for virtual assets service providers came into effect in Hong Kong, and the SFC began accepting license applications from crypto exchanges.

Later that year, following a scandal involving the unlicensed crypto platform, JPEX, the SFC decided to publicize all future crypto license applicants. By December, OSL Digital Securities, HashKey Exchange and Investment Firm Victory Securities were granted retail trading licenses.

Shifting Strategy on Crypto Investment

In November, Hong Kong revised its policy on spot-crypto ETF investing, thus allowing intermediaries to cater to a wider client base. In addition, the city permitted the issuance and trading of some tokenized securities, which are tokens that represent underlying investment assets.

Under Leung's pioneering leadership, the SFC licensed Swiss crypto bank SEBA to conduct regulated activities related to dealing in and distributing virtual assets-related products in Hong Kong. Commencing November, UBS Group's affluent clients had the privilege of trading three crypto ETFs authorized by the SFC in Hong Kong.

Playing a Key Role in Crypto Development

Through her valiant efforts, Julia Leung has emerged as a significant orchestrator of cryptocurrency activities in Hong Kong, a critical financial center. It is anticipated that she will continue to influence and shape the crypto landscape in 2024 and beyond.

Edited by Jonathan Stoker