The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, continued his visit programme in Paris yesterday (May 19, Paris time), including attending the "No Money for Terror" Ministerial Conference on Counter-Terrorism Financing hosted by France. He engaged in in-depth exchanges with delegations from over 80 countries and regions on issues including strengthening global co-operation in combating terrorist financing. He also shared his views during a discussion session on financial innovation and terrorist financing.

     Speaking at the Conference, Mr Chan said that the means of terrorist financing have become increasingly sophisticated, including making use of the anonymity and speed of digital assets to transfer funds across borders and evade tracking. He said that jurisdictions need to, and have the responsibility to, implement relevant international standards, including putting in place appropriate regulation of digital asset platforms and issuers, so as to prevent regulatory arbitrage.

     Mr Chan said that Hong Kong, China has all along firmly supported and implemented international requirements on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing. Through a comprehensive legal framework, risk-based regulation, and full inter-agency collaboration, Hong Kong, China has been taking forward relevant work and was assessed as overall compliant in the latest round of mutual evaluation by the Financial Action Task Force. On digital asset regulation, Hong Kong, China follows the principle of "same business, same risks, same regulation", and has implemented licensing regimes for digital asset platforms and stablecoin issuers, which include requirements on investor protection and prevention of money laundering.

     Mr Chan pointed out that, in strengthening international efforts to combat terrorist financing, jurisdictions should deepen cross-border and inter-agency collaboration, strengthen information and intelligence exchange, and expedite the interception and freezing of illicit funds. In addition, they should make full use of frontier technologies, such as applying blockchain analytics to cross-border tracing, so as to enhance law enforcement capabilities and the recovery of illicit assets.

     In the morning, Mr Chan visited the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and met with its Deputy Secretary-General, Ms Fabrizia Lapecorella. At the meeting, Mr Chan briefed Ms Lapecorella on Hong Kong's economic and financial developments, and said that Hong Kong, China has been actively participating in the work of committees under the OECD. Hong Kong, China has also been taking forward the implementation of Base Erosion and Profit Shifting 2.0 and the relevant amendments to the Common Reporting Standard in accordance with international standards. Mr Chan also met with the President of the Financial Action Task Force, Ms Elisa de Anda Madrazo, and exchanged views on strengthening international co-operation on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing.

     At noon, Mr Chan had lunch with local banking and financial leaders. He briefed them on the latest developments of Hong Kong as an international financial centre, as well as the overall direction and opportunities of Hong Kong's economic development. They also exchanged views on the global economic and financial outlook, and investment and development opportunities in China and Asia.

     Mr Chan will depart for Brussels, Belgium, today (May 20, Paris time) for a visit.

Ends/Wednesday, May 20, 2026
Issued at HKT 9:00

NNNN