Slaughter and May is advising Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited (“Standard Chartered”) on its proposed joint venture with Animoca Brands Limited (“Animoca Brands”) and an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of HKT Limited (“HKT”) to apply for a licence from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (“HKMA”) to issue a Hong Kong dollar-backed stablecoin. The transaction was announced on 17 February 2025.
Standard Chartered, Animoca Brands and HKT have been jointly participating in the HKMA stablecoin issuer sandbox launched in July 2024, to explore how stablecoins can play a key role in the development of financial markets and payments by bridging Web3 and traditional finance, thus strengthening Hong Kong’s position as a global digital assets hub. The joint venture is strategically positioned to be one of the first issuers to pioneer this market in the region.
Slaughter and May is supporting Standard Chartered's internal legal team on the transaction.
James Shaw / Trainee