Hong Kong Has Licensed Exactly Two Companies to Issue Stablecoins. Here’s Who They Are

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• The Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s public register lists exactly two licensed stablecoin issuers: Anchorpoint Financial Limited and HSBC
• Both licenses took effect on the same date, April 10, 2026, under section 15(1) of Hong Kong’s Stablecoins Ordinance
• Carrying on a regulated stablecoin activity in Hong Kong without a license is prohibited under the same ordinance

Hong Kong has formally licensed exactly two companies to issue stablecoins within its jurisdiction, according to the public register the Hong Kong Monetary Authority maintains and publishes on its own website. Despite the growing global attention stablecoins have received throughout 2026, the HKMA’s own list remains notably short: Anchorpoint Financial Limited and HSBC, and no others, as of the register’s most recent revision.

Both companies hold licenses that took effect on the exact same date, April 10, 2026. Anchorpoint Financial Limited holds license number FRS01, with its listed principal place of business at the Standard Chartered Building in Hong Kong’s Des Voeux Road Central. HSBC, formally listed under its full legal name The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, holds license number FRS02, based at its own headquarters on Queen’s Road Central.

The legal basis for both licenses, and for the register itself, traces back to Hong Kong’s Stablecoins Ordinance, specifically section 15(1), which governs the granting of licenses to issue what the law calls specified stablecoins within the territory. Section 21 of the same ordinance establishes and maintains the public register itself, with section 21(7) specifically requiring the HKMA to make that register available for public inspection by publishing it on its own website, the same mechanism that makes it possible to independently verify exactly who holds a valid license at any given time.

The ordinance does not merely create an optional registration pathway. It explicitly prohibits carrying on what it defines as a regulated stablecoin activity without the corresponding license, with that activity itself defined under section 5 of the ordinance. That structure means any stablecoin issuance activity within Hong Kong’s regulatory scope that falls outside these two licensed companies would, under the ordinance’s own terms, be operating without proper authorization.

Anchorpoint Financial Limited operates as a joint venture among several larger institutions, giving it backing from established financial and technology players even though it is a newer standalone entity built specifically around its stablecoin license. HSBC’s license, by contrast, sits within one of the world’s largest global banks, giving it an entirely different scale and existing customer base to build from as it begins actually using its license commercially. The register, published on the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s own website, remains the authoritative, continuously updated source for confirming exactly who holds a valid Hong Kong stablecoin issuer license at any point in time.