A&O Shearman has won Digital Assets Advisory Firm of the Year, Legal at the ninth annual Regulation Asia Awards for Excellence, presented at The St. Regis Hong Kong.

HONG KONG, 5 November 2026 – A&O Shearman has won Digital Assets Advisory Firm of the Year, Legal at the ninth annual Regulation Asia Awards for Excellence, presented at The St. Regis Hong Kong. 

A&O Shearman advised on landmark tokenised bond work in Hong Kong during the year, a mandate judges credited with a material positive impact on Hong Kong's digital asset ecosystem.  

Specifically, the firm played a pivotal role in advising the Hong Kong government on its HKD 10 billion multi-currency digitally native green note issuance – which involved the first global deployment of tokenised central bank money within a bond settlement process. Beyond sovereign debt, A&O Shearman advised on Hong Kong stablecoin issuer licensing, alongside work on tokenised fund offerings and cross-border payment solutions across the broader Asia-Pacific region. 

The award recognises the law firm with the strongest regulatory work for digital asset platforms and issuers, from licensing and compliance to navigating virtual asset regimes, judged on expertise, client outcomes and thought leadership. Judges assessed firms on digital asset regulatory expertise, client outcomes, the breadth and complexity of engagements, thought leadership and influence. 

“A&O Shearman has played a critical role in Hong Kong's digital bond issuance, with a material positive impact on the Hong Kong ecosystem,” said a member of the independent judging panel. 

“Digital asset regulation in Hong Kong is still being built, deal by deal. A&O Shearman advised on work that helped shape it during the year,” said Bradley Maclean, Chair of the Awards Committee, Regulation Asia. 

About the Regulation Asia Awards for Excellence 

Now in their ninth year, the Regulation Asia Awards for Excellence recognise achievements advancing regulatory practice across Asia-Pacific. 

The judging process involves an independent panel of senior industry practitioners and the Awards Committee. Entries are assessed against published, award-specific criteria covering Asia-Pacific relevance and material developments in the twelve months to 30 June 2026. Awards are granted against a defined standard rather than relative to other entries. 

Judging decisions are independent of editorial and commercial operations. There is no entry, shortlisting or winner fee, and commercial relationships do not influence results. 

About Regulation Asia 

Regulation Asia is a regulatory intelligence platform covering banking and financial markets across Asia-Pacific. Its news, insights and analysis serve more than 30,000 financial services professionals at over 1,000 financial institutions in more than 60 countries, as well as regulators, exchanges, technology firms and service providers. 

Media contact: 

Nick Wakefield, Co-founder, Regulation Asia 
nick@regulationasia.com