HSBC and a joint venture led by Standard Chartered are expected to be among the first companies to receive Hong Kong stablecoin licenses within two weeks, marking a milestone in the city’s effort to regulate the sector, South China Morning Post reported.

The number of licenses and timing have not been finalized and remain subject to change, but sources told SCMP a possible announcement date is March 24. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority said last month that only a small number of licenses would be granted this month after it reviewed 36 applications, according to the report.

The expected approvals would underscore Hong Kong’s relatively strict approach to stablecoin oversight since its Stablecoin Ordinance took effect last August, according to the news agency. The city is seeking both to prevent financial-system disruption from blockchain-enabled money flows and to advance its ambitions in digital assets.

Standard Chartered’s consortium with Animoca Brands and Hong Kong Telecommunications had already disclosed plans to seek a license to issue a Hong Kong dollar-backed stablecoin, the report said. The venture has been part of the HKMA’s stablecoin issuer sandbox since 2024, which permits limited tests of stablecoins in areas including e-commerce payments, cross-border trade settlements, and tokenized asset trading.

HSBC’s potential inclusion would come as a surprise because it did not take part in the sandbox, unlike Standard Chartered, SCMP reported. Instead, attention around HSBC had focused on tokenization projects such as tokenized deposits. Sources told the newspaper that HSBC had been actively engaging with local and global digital-asset players and intended to play a central role in Hong Kong’s evolving financial ecosystem.

Read more at South China Morning Post