
Manesh Samtani is the Editor at Regulation Asia, where he leads the regional news desk from Hong Kong, directing coverage of critical regulatory developments impacting financial services across APAC. Manesh specialises in analysing how new rules and technologies are reshaping banking, capital markets, and the fight against financial crime, providing finance professionals, compliance leaders, and policymakers with the intelligence they need to navigate risk and understand the impact of regulatory change in the region. manesh@regulationasia.com

Crypto / Digital Assets
ESMA Finalises First MiCA Rules, Issues New Consultation
26/03/2024
The rules set out authorisation requirements for CASPs and notification requirements for regulated financial entities seeking to provide crypto services.

Securities / Derivatives
TSE Launches New Initiative to Encourage Cross-border IPOs
26/03/2024
The “TSE Asia Startup Hub” will recruit promising companies from across Asia and provide them support and encouragement to list in Japan.

Securities / Derivatives
HKMA, SFC Planning Sept 2025 Rollout of New Derivatives Reporting Regime
25/03/2024
HKMA and SFC propose to adopt a ‘big bang’ approach to implementation, rolling out the UTI, UPI, CDE and ISO 20022 requirements on 29 September 2025.

Big Picture
New Mediums of Exchange Will Add to HK’s GDP: Report
25/03/2024
BCG, DLA Piper, HKT Payment Limited, paywith.glass, VSFG and ZA Bank say CBDC, tokenised deposits and stablecoins will add HK$160bn to Hong Kong’s GDP by 2032.

Hong Kong to Raise Bank Licence Fees Nearly 30%
22/03/2024
An HKMA review concluded that the proposed increase in fees should be “manageable” for affected financial institutions.

ESG / Sustainability
Hong Kong Progresses Work to Expand Green Bond Programme
21/03/2024
A new Infrastructure Bond Programme will be established and the Government Green Bond Scheme will be expanded and renamed to cover sustainable projects.

Crypto / Digital Assets
Hong Kong: Prototype Created to Issue Electronic Bills of Lading
21/03/2024
The eBL prototype, developed by GSBN and Ant Group, is being used in the HKMA’s wholesale CBDC sandbox project.

Crypto / Digital Assets
OECD Assesses DeFi’s Role in ASEAN to Promote Financial Inclusion
20/03/2024
Innovation associated with DeFi, provided in a regulated and compliant form, could offer possible financial inclusion benefits such as in MSME financing.

ESG / Sustainability
ASIC to Develop Climate Reporting Guidance for Small Businesses
20/03/2024
Scope 3 requirements for larger businesses mean small businesses may come into scope, even if they do not have direct climate reporting obligations.

ESG / Sustainability
BIS Demonstrates the Use of GenAI in Climate Risk Analysis
20/03/2024
Project Gaia delivered a platform that can extract data from corporate climate-related disclosures and generate harmonised metrics, despite differences in disclosure frameworks.
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