The Guideline on Supervision of Licensed Stablecoin Issuers is Hong Kong Monetary Authority guidance for entities licensed under the Stablecoins Ordinance (Cap. 656) to issue fiat-referenced stablecoins in Hong Kong. As of 17 June 2026, it is in force. HKMA published the final guideline on 29 July 2025 as part of implementation materials, and the regime took effect on 1 August 2025.
The guideline is not a standalone statute. It explains HKMA supervisory expectations for the ongoing minimum criteria in Schedule 2 to the Stablecoins Ordinance and should be read with the ordinance, the HKMA licensing explanatory note, and the separate AML/CFT guideline for licensed stablecoin issuers. HKMA states that “must” refers to statutory requirements while “should” indicates regulatory expectations.
What the Hong Kong stablecoin supervision guideline covers
The guideline organizes HKMA expectations around reserve assets, issuance and redemption mechanics, distribution, business activities, financial resources, risk management, governance, disclosures, personal data protection, and complaints handling. It is aimed at licensed issuers rather than token holders, exchanges, or unlicensed issuers.
- Reserve asset management and full backing of each specified stablecoin type.
- Issuance, redemption and distribution procedures, including third-party distributors.
- Financial resources, liquidity and orderly-exit capability.
- Risk governance, technology controls, cybersecurity and private-key management.
- White papers, public disclosures, accounting records and complaint handling.
Reserve backing, eligible assets and redemption
For reserve assets, the guideline states that each pool backing a specified stablecoin should at all times have market value at least equal to the par value of the outstanding stablecoins of that type. HKMA also expects over-collateralisation, reconciliation, prudent valuation, and board-approved reserve policies.
Eligible reserve assets include cash, bank deposits with terms of no longer than three months, qualifying marketable debt securities, certain overnight reverse repurchase receivables, dedicated investment funds, and other assets acceptable to HKMA. Except with HKMA approval, reserve assets should match the reference currency, or currency basket ratio, of the stablecoins they back.
The guideline also addresses segregation and safekeeping. Reserve assets must be separated from the issuer’s own assets and other reserve pools, protected from claims by other creditors, and held under trust arrangements or other structures acceptable to HKMA. Licensees remain primarily responsible even when custodians or investment managers are appointed.
Redemption is central to the guidance. Licensed issuers must provide holders with a right to redeem specified stablecoins at par value. Unless HKMA approves otherwise, valid redemption requests should be processed within one business day after receipt, with fees and conditions assessed for reasonableness and burden.
Risk governance, technology and conduct expectations
The financial resources section states that a licensee must maintain paid-up share capital of at least HK$25 million, or equivalent approved financial resources, unless it is an authorized institution subject to Banking Ordinance requirements. HKMA may impose higher resource requirements and expects liquid net assets funded by equity to support obligations and an orderly exit.
Risk management expectations include a board-approved framework, three lines of defence, independent risk, compliance and internal audit functions, and controls for credit, liquidity, market, operational, technology and third-party risks. The guideline calls for regular stress testing, including at least quarterly stress tests of reserve portfolios under severe but plausible scenarios.
Technology controls are detailed because issuance and redemption rely on distributed-ledger infrastructure. HKMA expects documented token standards, smart-contract architecture, lifecycle controls for minting and burning, authorization controls for high-risk operations, secure private-key arrangements, incident management, capacity planning, cybersecurity testing and continuity planning.
Business conduct provisions cover information systems, record keeping, public white papers, reserve and redemption disclosures, audited financial statements and complaints. White papers should describe the issuer, stablecoin, reserve arrangements, issuance and redemption mechanisms, technology, and risks. Complaint procedures should be public, with acknowledgement generally within seven calendar days and a full or interim response within 30 calendar days.
Status and related Hong Kong stablecoin materials
HKMA’s stablecoin regime page states that, following implementation of the Stablecoins Ordinance on 1 August 2025, issuance of fiat-referenced stablecoins is a regulated activity in Hong Kong and a licence is required. On 10 April 2026, HKMA announced stablecoin issuer licences for Anchorpoint Financial Limited and The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited. This profile treats the guideline as in force agency guidance within Hong Kong’s broader stablecoin licensing framework.