Hong Kong promotes the development of the digital bond market with the Digital Bond Grant Scheme

On 28 November 2024, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (“HKMA”) published details of the Digital Bond Grant Scheme (the “DBGS”). The DBGS was first introduced by the Chief Executive’s 2024 Policy Address (the “Policy Address”) on 16 October 2024 to encourage more financial institutions and issuers to adopt tokenisation technology in capital markets transactions. The DBGS provides subsidies to cover eligible digital bond issuance expenses incurred by an issuer in a primary issuance of digital bonds. 

The HKMA will start accepting applications from 28 November 2024, with an initial period of three years, and applications can be made for bonds issued on or after the Policy Address announcement (i.e. 16 October 2024).

This bulletin summarises the key highlights of the DBGS.