The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and Invest Hong Kong co-organized the 2019 Hong Kong Fintech Week. The five-day event (November 4, 2019-November 8, 2019) attracted thousands of participants from all over the world, and PANews, as the official cooperative media, participated in the full coverage of the conference.
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o1 Carry out blockchain-based trade linkage with the central bank
A subsidiary of Hong Kong Interbank Clearing Co., Ltd. signed a "Memorandum of Understanding" with a subsidiary of the Digital Currency Research Institute of the People's Bank of China to conduct a proof-of-concept test, aiming to connect "Trade Linkage" with the trade finance platform of the People's Bank of China. A proof of concept is expected to begin in Q1 2020. After the docking is completed, it will provide more convenient trade financing services for enterprises in the two places, and it will also speed up the expansion of financing business of Hong Kong banks.
Based on the proof-of-concept test results conducted by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority on the blockchain earlier, 12 major banks, under the promotion of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, began operating a trade financing platform called "Trade Linkage" in September 2018. The function of "Trade Linkage" has been continuously improved after its launch. At present, its main functions include: helping trade participants to effectively verify and transmit trade documents on the platform through the digitization of trade documents (such as purchase orders and receipts);
Encryption technology is used to ensure that only trade participants can share trade data, and participants can also use trade data to apply for financing from banks. Automate the transaction process (such as automatically issuing receipts after delivery, automatic reconciliation of purchase orders and receipts, etc.).
In order to promote cross-border trade financing business, the HKMA has been actively seeking "trade linkage" to connect with trade platforms in other regions. The People's Bank of China Trade Finance Platform (PBCTFP) is a financial infrastructure that provides public services for trade finance in Mainland China. The platform was released to the public for the first time on September 4, 2018, and was officially launched in Shenzhen as a pilot.
The platform uses blockchain technology to provide financial institutions with commercial applications for trade financing, ensuring the authenticity of trade data and lowering the threshold for data acquisition.
The docking of "Trade Linkage" and PBCTFP will deepen cooperation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, promote the interconnection of financial infrastructure between the Mainland and Hong Kong, and strengthen the mutual sharing of financing information between financial institutions in the two places. With the huge trade volume between the two places, the two The docking of the two platforms is expected to accelerate the expansion of Hong Kong banks' trade financing business.
This cooperation plan will conduct a proof-of-concept test for the connection between "Trade Linkage" and PBCTFP. The two platforms will also conduct joint research in technical fields such as blockchain and network communication.
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o2 Joint research on central bank digital currency with the Central Bank of Thailand
As a follow-up to the "Memorandum of Understanding" signed by the HKMA and the Central Bank of Thailand in May 2019, the two parties are conducting a joint research project called "LionRock-Inthanon" to study the application of "central bank digital currency" in cross-border Payment application, thereby promoting the simultaneous settlement of dual-currency foreign exchange transactions between banks in Hong Kong and Thailand. A related joint report will be published in the first quarter of 2020.
In 2017, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority cooperated with the three note-issuing banks in Hong Kong, Hong Kong Interbank Clearing Co., Ltd., and the R3 Alliance to conduct a research project called Project Lion Rock. ) for research. The research results confirm that the application of CBDC in cross-border payment has development potential.
The HKMA and the Central Bank of Thailand signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Fintech in May 2019 to strengthen their cooperation in promoting financial innovation. And then, at the invitation of the Central Bank of Thailand, jointly carry out the Project Lionrock- -Inthanon concept proof-of-concept pilot program, the purpose of which is to link the prototypes of the two CBDC platforms developed in the previous proof-of-concept projects of the two parties.
The goal of the Lionrock-Inthanon project is to enable the banks of the two places to use CBDC as a payment tool for cross-border payment, foreign exchange exchange and settlement between banks in the two places in Hong Kong dollars and Thai baht, so as to improve the efficiency of current cross-border payments and strengthen foreign exchange liquidity management , Reduce compliance costs, etc.
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o3 Li Xiaojia: Blockchain Redefines Economic Relations
Perhaps the most daring disruptor is the ambitious Hong Kong Stock Exchange CEO Li Xiaojia. In the era of digital economy driving technological innovation, he bluntly hopes that Hong Kong Stock Exchange can become a pioneer leading the development of the global industry.
As an example, technology can provide insight into market activity by capturing data on everything from gasoline sold at gas stations to microwave ovens leaving department stores, leading to in-depth research on economic performance. In the future, data can be traded as a new asset class. "
It now appears that China is the only major country that has reached this level of digitization, and this foundation will germinate another potentially huge disruption—the establishment of a very different blockchain-based economic governance system.
"If the economy can be organized through technology, then the government does not have to build a lot of bureaucracy, a lot of regulatory power, and a lot of trust in institutions like in the West." Li Xiaojia said, "Blockchain can redefine the relationship between people. economic relationship between
During the roundtable on "Fintech Investing - Bubbles and Reality," Jing Ulrich, managing director at JPMorgan, said blockchain's potential lies in its "simple, beautiful, and invisible," reminding us that to be truly successful, innovation must Become a part of our daily life, like the air we breathe, never absent but essential.
The advancement of financial technology is not a win-win game between humans and machines. As TIMO co-founder Claude Spiese said: "The purpose of innovation is not to improve technology, but to be driven by customer interests. If you can do better than artificial intelligence algorithms with a cup of coffee, do it with a cup of coffee." "
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o4 In combination with traditional securities, announce the regulatory position of trading platforms
During the Financial Technology Week, on November 6, the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission announced the "Position Statement" on the supervision of trading platforms, which indicates that China has taken an important step in the supervision of blockchain encrypted asset transactions.
In fact, from the regulatory framework on November 1 last year to the STO policy on March 28, and the application rules for virtual asset investment fund management company licenses on October 10 to today’s policies, they are all promoting securities and virtual assets. Asset investment in property development in Hong Kong.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), Alder Alder, said at the event that the new regulations on digital assets allow virtual asset trading platforms to obtain operating licenses, and improve supervision and industry standards to prevent fraud. The SFC stipulates that licensed trading platforms can only provide services to professional investors, and requires operators to take insurance measures to ensure that customers can be protected in the event of loss or theft of assets.
Alderly said the new regulatory framework was a significant development, adding: "It borrows heavily from the standards of traditional securities firms and automated trading systems, but at the same time applies those standards to the technology currently used by the industry."
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