Hong Kong Monetary Authority: Retail investors participating in the tokenization of bonds involve multiple departments in the issuing process, and work on this matter is progressing.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is preparing to assist the Hong Kong government in issuing the 3rd batch of tokenized bonds. Some Legislative Council members have asked whether tokenized bonds will be allowed to circulate on the secondary market in the future or if retail investors will be allowed to participate. HKMA Assistant Chief Executive Howard Lee mentioned that Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) can be used for bond issuance, as well as for secondary trading and 24/7 trading. After the issuance of the first two batches of tokenized bonds, there have been secondary markets, and different tokenized bonds will continue to be issued under the government bond program. As for whether retail investors should participate, it involves various departments regarding issuance, including the work of general financial institutions, which are being pushed forward by the authorities. Regarding the establishment of green finance standards, the Senior Director of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, Director of International Affairs and Sustainable Finance Katty Kung, stated that the SFC announced in October 2023 its support and promotion of providers of ESG ratings and data products in Hong Kong by developing a set of voluntary compliance guidelines, which were released in October last year. As of the end of August this year, 20 international and local providers have expressed their intention to comply with the guidelines.