Proposal · Applies to Banks, Listed issuers, Fund managers
At the Treasury Markets Summit, HKMA Chief Executive Eddie Yue said CMU OmniClear is building a digital asset platform for 24-hour, on-chain atomic settlement that will support settlement against central bank digital currencies and explore integration with tokenised deposits and regulated stablecoins. He said the HKMA will test tokenised Exchange Fund Bills and support regular government digital bond issuance, and that half the world's digital bonds by volume in the first half of 2026 were issued in Hong Kong.
Why it matters: The HKMA's own securities depository, not a private platform, is being set up as the settlement layer for Hong Kong's digital bonds, with stablecoins on the list of settlement assets it may accept.
Eddie Yue, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), gave the keynote address at the Treasury Markets Summit on 23 September 2026 (HKMA release). On digital bonds he said:
CMU OmniClear, which operates the Central Moneymarkets Unit (CMU), Hong Kong’s central securities depository for debt, is building a digital asset platform that “embodies our vision for 24-hour, on-chain atomic settlement”.
The platform will support settlement against central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and “explore integration with tokenised deposits and regulated stablecoins”.
The HKMA will test tokenised Exchange Fund Bills, to help banks with asset and liability management.
The HKMA will support the government in issuing digital bonds regularly, with deeper integration with digital money, and the Tokenised Bond Expert Group will work with industry on wider adoption.
Half the world’s digital bonds by volume in the first half of 2026 were issued in Hong Kong.
Implications
The speech adds detail to the CMU OmniClear commitment in the 2026 Policy Address (para 35). Atomic settlement means the bond and the cash move in one step, so neither side carries the risk that the other leg fails. Running it round the clock would let bond trades and repos settle outside RTGS hours.
The choice of settlement assets is the open question. CBDC support is stated; tokenised deposits and regulated stablecoins are only to be explored. If stablecoins are admitted, a depository run by the central bank would settle bonds against tokens issued by licensed non-bank issuers. The speech does not name the ledger technology, the launch date beyond the Policy Address’s “this year”, or who may connect.
For issuers and dealers, a depository-run platform keeps digital bonds inside the existing custody and settlement chain, as India did with Demat 2.0. That lowers legal risk for investors and limits the role of private tokenisation platforms that Hong Kong’s earlier government green bonds used.
Elsewhere in Asia
India settles depository-issued tokenised bonds in wholesale CBDC through the RBI’s Unified Markets Interface. Singapore’s BLOOM initiative covers settlement in tokenised bank liabilities and stablecoins.
What to watch
The platform’s launch, due this year under the Policy Address; which settlement assets it admits at launch; and whether the HKSAR Government’s next digital bond issue settles on it.