Hong Kong Financial News

Amidst the $213 million scandal involving the cryptocurrency exchange JPEX, the Hong Kong government has maintained its commitment to advancing its Web3 vision for the region.

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The Hong Kong government says the recent $165 million alleged scandal involving crypto exchange JPEX won’t stifle its Web3 vision for the region.

Visa, a global leader in payments technology, has announced the successful completion of a pilot test of tokenized deposits using central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

HONG KONG (Reuters) — The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) on Thursday left its base rate charged through the overnight discount window unchanged at 5.75%, tracking a move by the U.S. Federal Reserve to keep rates steady.

Investing.com-- Most Asian stocks rose on Thursday, buoyed by a rally in the technology sector as somewhat middling comments from the Federal Reserve spurred bets that the central bank was done with its run of interest rate hikes. 

Asian shares and bonds extended a global rally on Thursday as a non-committal Federal Reserve Chair had markets double down on bets that U.S. interest rates have peaked and cuts are on the way. Investors are now awaiting the results from Apple later in the day, a bellwether for consumer demand and the tech sector.

US Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged. Hopes that the US central bank is done with rate hikes fueled optimism among investors. The domestic equity indices ended lower on Wednesday, extending their losses for the second consecutive session.

Payment processor Visa has completed the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's central bank digital currency (CBDC) Pilot Programme with HSBC and Hang Seng Bank.

Banking giant the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) has tested the use of tokenized deposits — from issuance to transfer to redemption — with major Chinese financial services provider Ant Group, founded by Jack Ma, in a sandbox arranged by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

The initiative aims to explore the potentials of deposit tokenisation in enabling always-on, real-time treasury fund movement between accounts held by a corporate within the HSBC network.Conducted under the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's Fintech Supervisory Sandbox arrangement, the test encompassed the issuance, transfer, and redemption of deposit tokens. During the test, HSBC was connected to the blockchain platform developed by Ant Group.

₹1,000 crore ($120 million) for its open-ended fund to invest in Indian equities. Kotak Iconic Fund, a category-III alternative investment fund (AIF), invests in equities with varied market capitalisation through diversified active and passive strategies. “The journey to ₹1,000 crore in AUM (assets under management) has been marked by unwavering dedication, resilience, and the trust of investors who have chosen Kotak Iconic as their preferred investment vehicle in the Indian equities space," said Lakshmi Iyer, chief executive officer, investments and strategy, Kotak Alternate Asset Managers.

Legal respite: China Evergrande's court hearing deferred to Dec 4; judge gives last chance for resolution plan The property developer's dollar bonds last traded at about 2.25 cents on the dollar on Tuesday, according to LSEG data, as bondholders weigh the possible recoveries in the revised restructuring plan against other options like a winding up. A lawyer representing an ad hoc group of key bondholders told a Hong Kong court on Monday the restructuring plan could have a higher recovery rate for creditors than a liquidation scenario of less than 3%.

The exodus of tens of thousands of professionals from Hong Kong, triggered by Beijing’s crackdown on its civil liberties, is being offset by new arrivals: mainland Chinese keen to move to the former British colony

Asian shares are mostly higher after Wall Street advanced to claim back some of the ground it gave up in another losing month

An official survey of manufacturers shows China’s factory activity contracted in October, suggesting the economy remains on uneven footing

Hivemind Capital Partners, a prominent web3 and digital asset investment firm, has announced plans to expand operations to Hong Kong.

Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange HashKey has ventured into the retail trading sector with the official launch of its trading app, making it the first licensed virtual asset exchange app in Hong Kong.

Taiwan’s Criminal Bureau’s Electronic Investigation Team busted a major crypto money laundering operation, involving $320 million worth of USDT.

Asian stocks inched lower on Wednesday ahead of a keenly-awaited policy decision from the Federal Reserve later in the day, while the yen was stuck near one-year lows against the dollar, keeping markets on edge for possible intervention by Tokyo. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.13% lower, starting November in a sombre mood after clocking three straight months of losses.

North Korea is poised to close as many as a dozen embassies including in Spain, Hong Kong, and multiple countries in Africa, according to media reports and analysts, in a move that could see nearly 25 percent of Pyongyang's missions close worldwide. North Korea's recent closing of its diplomatic missions was a sign that the reclusive country is struggling to make money overseas because of international sanctions, South Korea's unification ministry said on Tuesday. On Monday, North Korean state media outlet KCNA said the country's ambassadors paid «farewell» visits to Angolan and Ugandan leaders last week, and local media in both African countries reported the shutdown of the North's embassies there. Both Angola and Uganda have forged friendly ties with North Korea since the 1970s, maintaining military cooperation and providing rare sources of foreign currency such as statue-building projects. The embassy closings set the stage for what could be «one of the country's biggest foreign policy shakeups in decades», with implications for diplomatic engagement, humanitarian work in the isolated country, as well as the ability to generate illicit revenue, wrote Chad O'Carroll, founder of the North Korea-focused website NK Pro. More than a dozen missions may close, likely because of international sanctions, a trend of Pyongyang's disengaging globally and the probable weakening of the North Korean economy, he said in a report on Wednesday. Seoul's unification ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said the pullout reflected the impact of international sanctions aimed at curbing funding for the North's nuclear and missile programs. «They appear to be withdrawing as their foreign currency earning business has stumbled