The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced that the Monetary Authority has granted stablecoin issuer licences under the Stablecoins Ordinance to Anchorpoint Financial Limited and The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited for issuing stablecoins in Hong Kong. The licences take effect on 10 April 2026. According to the licensees’ business plans, they intend to
Singapore, April 10, 2026 — CoinP Announces Official First-Tier Sponsorship of Hong Kong Web3 Carnival 2026, Marking Another Major Move Following Initial Core Ecosystem Project Launches — Strategic Aim to Expand Brand Influence and Global Market Footprint. Meanwhile, CoinP will host an Ecosystem Strategy Launch and Private Salon on April 21 at 14:00 (GMT+8), joined
A nine-year-old Hong Kong girl has contracted a rare bacterial infection and is fighting for her life in hospital after visiting Japan during the Easter holiday, with health authorities contacting the other tour group members as a precaution. The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said on Friday that the girl, who was in a critical
Hong Kong taxi passengers will still have to pay full tunnel tolls despite government relief measures that cut the fee for commercial vehicles by half, transport authorities have said. The Transport and Logistics Bureau said on Friday that the relief measure, contained in a package to support the transport sector as oil prices rise, was
Hong Kong authorities conducted no fire risk assessment of a HK$336 million (US$42.9 million) Wang Fuk Court renovation project before the city’s deadliest fire in decades ravaged the site, a public inquiry has heard. Sam Keung Sai-ming, an assistant director of the Fire Services Department’s licensing and certification branch, said on Friday that authorities did
Hong Kong students taking the English paper in university entrance exams on Friday were pleasantly surprised by relatable topics such as bubble tea and starting a YouTube channel. But many candidates sitting the Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) exam were caught off guard by the inclusion of two poems in the reading section for the
Hong Kong’s largest public hospital will open to patients in phases from October, with the new 2,400-bed facility in Kai Tak set to take over the services of Queen Elizabeth Hospital and become a healthcare hub for Kowloon. The Hospital Authority said on Friday that the first phase of services at Kai Tak Hospital, located
A man arrested for stealing HK$36,000 (US$4,595) from a Hong Kong bank pointed a gun-like object at staff and hammered the counter glass during the two-minute raid, while a teller hid under a desk and her colleague placed cash into a bag for the suspect, according to the surveillance footage. Police received a report at
Hong Kong’s smoking rate fell to 8.5 per cent last year, missing an ambitious target of 7.8 per cent, but health authorities have hailed the success of the city’s tobacco control strategy, which led to a 30 per cent decline in overall cigarette consumption. Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau told a Legislative Council meeting on
An international animal rights group and a veterinary organisation have called for a public boycott of Hong Kong’s major online retailer, HKTVmall, after its parent company revealed a life science project testing the viability of detached animal heads and limbs. The two groups staged an hour-long protest on Friday outside the HKTVmall building in Tseung
A Hong Kong independent bookstore owner has been fined HK$32,000 (US$4,085) for holding a Spanish class in his shop after a court ruled the course took place at an unregistered school. Pong Yat-ming, 52, was convicted on Friday of violating the Education Ordinance by organising a Spanish course in April last year at Book Punch,
HSBC and a consortium led by Standard Chartered have been awarded Hong Kong’s first stablecoin issuer licences, marking the city’s latest step towards embracing cryptocurrency’s most-traded cash substitute in its bid to become a global digital asset hub. “The two applicants have experience in traditional financial and risk management, which fits the mission of stablecoins
Hong Kong housing authorities have spent HK$34 million (US$4.3 million) on recovery efforts following the devastating fire at Wang Fuk Court, including removing damaged scaffolding, conducting structural assessments and strengthening works. The Housing Bureau said on Thursday evening that the HK$34 million expenditure was the main reason for the 22.1 per cent increase in the
More than 150 Hong Kong civil servants have been dismissed for serious misconduct or criminal convictions over the past three financial years, with the police force accounting for the largest number of cases. In a written reply to a lawmaker’s inquiry on Thursday, the Civil Service Bureau said 151 civil servants were dismissed for serious
The Hong Kong government must ensure its massive HK$1.8 billion (US$229.8 million) subsidy for diesel to mitigate record-high oil prices for the transport sector is not exploited by fuel companies through discount manipulations, an industry leader and a lawmaker have cautioned. Their warnings came shortly after authorities announced a two-month, HK$3-per-litre (38 US cents) diesel
Illness after eating oysters continues to be a problem Published: April 10, 2026, 12:01 am Hong Kong has reported a sharp decline in foodborne outbreaks in 2025 compared to the year before, according to recently released data. The data includes outbreaks related to food premises and businesses that were reported to the Centre for Food
Jardine Matheson is giving up its remaining office space in FWD Tower at Taikoo Place and plans to relocate staff back to Jardine House in Central as part of operational consolidation, sources said. The group’s primary office at Jardine House, part of its own property portfolio, “is now undergoing renovations to create a modern workspace
This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. An independent committee examining the causes of Hong Kong’s deadliest blaze in decades will hold its 10th day of evidential hearings on Friday. The Fire Services Department’s handling of shutdown notices for the fire
Clashes over the screening of a controversial, award-winning Hong Kong coming-of-age documentary at an Italian film festival have escalated, with the director accusing the secondary school at the centre of the dispute of “blatantly lying” about the arrangement for the showing. Acclaimed filmmaker Mabel Cheung Yuen-ting slammed Ying Wa Girls’ School over the documentary’s screening
Hong Kong bus company boss Martin Lau feels overwhelmed as he attempts every option possible to minimise mounting losses wrought by runaway fuel prices. He has done everything he can think of, from trying to reduce services to doing his own repairs on his fleet of more than 20 coaches. Lau, managing director of ABC
