Hong Kong Securities And Futures Commission Forges Consensus With Regional Counterparts On Regulatory Roadmap For Sustainability, Technology And Investor Protection

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) spearheaded dialogues among Asia-Pacific securities regulators at the regional committee meetings of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), reaching common ground on the future pathways to tackle wide-ranging capital market issues.

Chaired by the SFC’s Chief Executive Officer Ms Julia Leung, the IOSCO Asia-Pacific Regional Committee (APRC) met for three days from 19 to 21 February 2025 in Vietnam to foster collaboration on issues of mutual interest (Note 1). Members agreed on a coordinated regional approach to tackle scams and online harm. They also shared experiences and techniques to detect and investigate investment frauds and to harness the transformative forces of technology in addressing emerging issues.

Ms Leung met with Ms Vu Thi Chan Phuong, Chairwoman of State Securities Commission (SSC) of Vietnam, to discuss supervisory cooperation, crypto regulation and capital market issues of common interest. She welcomed SSC as the 14th and latest signatory to the APRC Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding for Supervisory Cooperation (SMMoU) (Note 2). The SMMoU signing ceremony was witnessed by the Minister of Finance of Vietnam Mr Nguyen Van Thang.

"The APRC provides an effective platform for securities regulators across the region to build consensus and collaborate on cross-border issues, which is essential to instil global trust in Asia-Pacific’s growing capital markets,” Ms Leung said during her keynote speech in addressing the SSC Vietnam Symposium. “By sharing our insights and fostering collaboration, all of us in this room today can pinpoint emerging trends, assess risks, and identify key tasks to better navigate the complexities of the times” (Note 3). 

In the afternoon, Ms Leung co-chaired the EU-Asia-Pacific Forum on Financial Regulation with Ms Nathalie De Basaldua, Director, General Affairs, Directorate‑General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union. Financial authorities and senior regulators from Europe and Asia Pacific discussed the latest developments in financial supervision and regulation for digitalisation, fintech and sustainable finance.

Prior to that, SFC senior executives participated in the APRC Enforcement Directors’ Meeting and the Supervisory Directors’ Meeting on Wednesday, exchanging experiences and sharing perspectives on an array of issues. They included the enforcement priorities and trends, use of technologies in discharging regulatory duties, the emerging use of generative artificial intelligence in financial sector, and supervisory approaches on virtual asset safekeeping.

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Notes:

1. More than 70 regulators from 19 jurisdictions in the region participated in APRC meetings hosted by the Vietnam SSC in Da Nang, Vietnam.
2. The IOSCO APRC Supervisory MMoU is an information-sharing mechanism for supervisory cooperation among securities regulators in the Asia-Pacific region.
3. Ms Leung’s speech can be downloaded from the SFC website.