The Stablecoins Ordinance (Specification of Persons for Section 9(2)(b)(iii)) Notice is Hong Kong subsidiary legislation under the Stablecoins Ordinance (Cap. 656). The Notice is identified as Cap. 656A and L.N. 126 of 2025. It came into operation on 1 August 2025 and, as of 16 June 2026, should be treated as in force unless an editor identifies a later amendment, repeal or replacement in Hong Kong e-Legislation.
The instrument is narrow but important. It specifies professional investors as the class of persons for the purposes of section 9(2)(b)(iii) of the Stablecoins Ordinance. In practical editorial terms, the Notice sits inside Hong Kong’s wider stablecoin offering restrictions. It does not create the licensing regime on its own, but it helps define one of the circumstances in which the section 9(1) offering prohibition does not apply.
Key Provisions of Cap. 656A
Professional investors are the specified class
The Schedule to Cap. 656A states that “professional investor” has the meaning given by section 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571). Part 2 of the Schedule then specifies “Professional investor” as the relevant class of persons. This is the operative content of the Notice.
Connection to section 9 of the Stablecoins Ordinance
The explanatory note to L.N. 126 of 2025 states that section 9(1) of the Stablecoins Ordinance prohibits a person from offering, or holding out as offering, a specified stablecoin. Section 9(2) sets out circumstances in which that prohibition does not apply. One condition under section 9(2)(b) is that the stablecoin is offered to a person, or class of persons, specified for section 9(2)(b)(iii) under section 9(3). Cap. 656A supplies that specified class.
Authority and commencement
The Financial Secretary made the Notice under section 9(3) of the Stablecoins Ordinance. The Legal Notice was signed by Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po on 3 June 2025, published in the Gazette on 6 June 2025, tabled before the Legislative Council for negative vetting on 11 June 2025, and commenced on 1 August 2025.
Jurisdictional Impact in Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s government described the main Stablecoins Ordinance as a framework to supervise stablecoin-related activities and introduce a licensing regime for regulated stablecoin activities in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority states that, after implementation on 1 August 2025, the business of issuing fiat-referenced stablecoins became a regulated activity in Hong Kong and a licence is required.
Cap. 656A should therefore be read as a supporting notice within that broader regime. It is relevant to offers of specified stablecoins issued by a person that has not been granted a licence under section 15 of the Stablecoins Ordinance, where the conditions in section 9(2)(b) are otherwise met. The government press release described the Notice as allowing such offers to professional investors.
Status and Timeline
- 21 May 2025: The Stablecoins Ordinance was enacted by the Legislative Council.
- 30 May 2025: The main Ordinance was published in the Gazette.
- 3 June 2025: The Financial Secretary made the Specification Notice.
- 6 June 2025: The Notice was published in the Gazette.
- 11 June 2025: The Notice was scheduled for tabling before the Legislative Council for negative vetting.
- 1 August 2025: Cap. 656A came into operation alongside the main Stablecoins Ordinance.
Editorial Reading
For CryptoSlate readers, the Notice is best understood as a professional-investor specification rather than a full stablecoin rulebook. Its central function is to identify who may receive certain specified stablecoin offers under the section 9(2)(b) pathway. The licensing, supervision, AML/CFT and issuer requirements remain anchored in the main Stablecoins Ordinance and HKMA materials.