Hong Kong’s tokenisation drive set to boost treasury centres and investments

Hong Kong’s push to establish a tokenised financial system is poised to attract more companies to set up treasury centres in the city, which would give investors broader options while reducing transaction costs, according to market players.

Both corporations and individuals stood to benefit from increased tokenisation of money and assets, which could make financial services faster and more efficient and accessible, said representatives from Standard Chartered, China Asset Management (Hong Kong) and government agency InvestHK during a briefing on Friday.

As government-led tokenisation and digital asset initiatives, such as Project Ensemble, gained traction, more commercial applications were expected to emerge, according to King Leung, global head of financial services, fintech and sustainability at InvestHK.

Leung pointed out that tokenised financial products could improve corporate cash and treasury management by reducing the time and cost of cross-border transactions. That could attract more mainland Chinese firms to establish treasury centres in Hong Kong, following the path of several large state-owned enterprises.

In April, the Hong Kong Chinese Enterprises Association formed a Corporate Treasury Centre Committee, comprising 43 member companies across sectors such as energy, telecommunications and manufacturing.

Collectively, these companies managed assets exceeding US$240 billion, with financing of about US$100 billion and annual settlements close to US$3 trillion, according to a statement.