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Stablecoins Ordinance to commence operation on August 1, 2025 
     The Ordinance was gazetted on May 30, 2025. Its main purpose is to supervise activities involving stablecoins, and to introduce a licensing regime for regulated stablecoin activities in Hong Kong. 
 
     Section 1(2) of the Ordinance provides that the Ordinance will come into operation on a day to be appointed by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury (SFST) by notice published in the Gazette. For this purpose, the SFST has made the Stablecoins Ordinance (Commencement) Notice to appoint August 1, 2025, as the day on which the Ordinance comes into operation.
 
     At the same time, the Financial Secretary has made the Stablecoins Ordinance (Specification of Persons for Purposes of Section 9(2)(b)(iii)) Notice, to specify professional investors (within the meaning given by section 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571)) as a class of persons for the purposes of section 9(2)(b)(iii) of the Ordinance, i.e. allowing the offering of specified stablecoins issued by a person who is not granted a licence under section 15 of the Ordinance to professional investors.
   
     The SFST, Mr Christopher Hui, said, “After the Ordinance commences operation, the licensing regime will provide suitable guardrails for relevant stablecoin activities. It will be a milestone in facilitating the sustainable development of the stablecoin and digital asset ecosystem in Hong Kong.”
 
     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has also launched a consultation on the detailed regulatory requirements of the regime, including provisions related to anti-money laundering and the counter-financing of terrorism.
 
     The Notices will be tabled before the Legislative Council next Wednesday (June 11) for negative vetting.
Issued at HKT 12:00

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Appointment of Chairman of Insurance Appeals Tribunal announced 
     A Government spokesman said, “The IAT provides an effective safeguard to ensure the relevant regulatory decisions made by the Insurance Authority (IA) are reasonable and fair. With his profound expertise in the legal profession and a wealth of experience in public service, we believe that Mr Ma will lead the IAT to operate effectively and raise public confidence in the insurance regulatory regime.”
 
     The Government also expressed gratitude to the outgoing Chairperson, Ms Rachel Lam Yan-kay, SC, for her valuable contribution and dedicated service. 
 
     The IAT is a statutory tribunal established in 2017 under the Insurance Ordinance (Cap. 41) to review specified decisions made by the IA, and to hear and determine a question or issue arising out of or in connection with a review. 
Issued at HKT 12:00

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Reappointment of Managing Director of Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority announced 
     The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, welcomed the reappointment, adding, “Mr Cheng joined the MPFA in 2013 and has made valuable contributions to the MPFA since then. Under his leadership in the past three years, the MPFA has been actively taking forward various proposals to reform the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) System. In particular, the eMPF Platform, as a major reform initiative of the MPF System, has commenced operation since June 2024 with phased onboarding of MPF trustees under way. I look forward to Mr Cheng’s continuous effort in leading the MPFA to discharge its duties.”
 
     Mr Cheng Yan-chee was appointed Chief Corporate Affairs Officer of the MPFA in 2013 and Acting Managing Director in 2021. He has been the Managing Director of the MPFA since 2022.
 
     The MPFA is a statutory body established under the MPFSO in September 1998 for the regulation and supervision of the MPF System.
Issued at HKT 12:00

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Over 1 800 quality job vacancies to be offered at Career Connect Job Fair
     About 50 organisations will participate in the two-day job fair, offering over 1 800 quality job vacancies from various industries, among which more than 1 200 are from transport, real estate, catering and retail industries. Around 25 organisations will set up booths and conduct recruitment on the spot each day. A wide variety of positions will be offered including system analyst, assistant plant supervisor, technician officer, accounting officer, sales officer, security guard, reservations services associate, building services mechanic, taxi driver, cleaner, packer, electrician, cashier, etc. Job seekers can visit the Interactive Employment Service website (www.jobs.gov.hk
     Around 78 per cent of the vacancies offered at the job fair are full-time jobs. Most vacancies offer monthly salaries ranging from $12,000 to $25,000. About 95 per cent of the vacancies require a Secondary Seven education level or below. Around 69 per cent are open to job seekers without relevant work experience.

Government continues to proactively follow up on water quality incidents at Queen’s Hill Estate and Shan Lai Court 
So far, all water samples have complied with the Hong Kong Drinking Water Standards, including the Rapid Toxicity Test (light emitting bacteria) and Carcinogenic Benzo(a) pyrene for testing carcinogens. These two parameters were negative in all the results of the water samples tested. While ensuring that the water quality met standards, the WSD also conducted traceability work and passed 126 samples of materials collected from each block in the estates for the Government Laboratory’s testing on June 3. Preliminary test results indicated that most of the samples consist of bitumen mixed with resin.
 
Bitumen was commonly used as a protective coating to prevent rust inside steel water pipes around the world in earlier years. It is an inert material and is insoluble in water. According to experts’ views, bitumen will not release materials harmful to human body after mixing with water. In other words, even if drinking water has come into contact with water pipes coated with bitumen, relevant water quality will still comply with the drinking water standards. However, after prolonged use of water pipes, bitumen coating is prone to spalling, which is not durable and affects the clarity of drinking water and the public’s perception. Therefore, bitumen coated steel pipes have been replaced with durable epoxy resin-coated steel pipes for water supply pipes laid after 2005.
 
As to whether drinking water containing bitumen will affect health, the WSD commissioned an expert consultant in 2020 to conduct an experiment by boiling 10 grams of bitumen in three litres of hot water. The result confirmed that no toxic substances were released. Currently, the sediments (bitumen) in the water samples taken from Queen’s Hill Estate are three-thousandth of the amount used in that experiment (per litre), so members of the public need not worry even if they have consumed drinking water with bitumen.
 
According to records, the relevant pipes in the Queen’s Hill Estate and Shan Lai Court do not contain bitumen materials. Furthermore, following a similar water quality incident at Queen’s Hill Estate in 2022, the WSD installed screen filters outside the Queen’s Hill Estate in December 2022, which can block substances larger than 0.1 millimeters in diameter. Since then, the WSD has regularly inspected the condition of the filters on a weekly basis. After receiving a report on the water quality incident on May 30, the WSD checked the filters again and confirmed it remained intact, without any damage. Given that the sediments found within the estate exceed 0.1mm, they should not have entered the estate’s water supply system after the filters were installed (i.e. after December 2022). Upon reviewing the information, it was found that there is a section of steel water pipe upstream coated with bitumen on the inner wall. As such, the WSD reckoned that the sediments are likely residual bitumen materials that flowed into the pipes of the Queen’s Hill Estate from the aforementioned steel pipe before December 2022. As for the resin material, based on its color, appearance, and chemical composition, it is likely due to the flaking off of the protective layer of water valves.

The WSD will continue the investigation based on the above assumptions, and as always, will submit the investigation report of this incident to the Drinking Water Safety Advisory Committee for review.
 
Currently, the WSD will enhance the flushing of pipes to remove any residual bitumen materials, and strengthen water sampling. Sampling and testing will be conducted daily until no related sediments are found. The valves in the water supply system will also be checked. Any materials that have flaked off will be replaced if necessary. Understanding the public’s concerns regarding this incident, the WSD will continue to arrange temporary water supply through water tanks.
 
To address the issue, maintenance teams of the HD have responded swiftly by installing additional nine screen filters with a density that can block impurities with a diameter of 0.1 millimetres or larger on the existing facilities in Queens Hill Estate and Shan Lai Court. The HD also continued to install additional filtering facilities with the same density that can block impurities with a diameter of 0.1 millimetres or larger in Queens Hill Estate and Shan Lai Court (seven and six respectively) today (June 5). The works will be completed today. Within a short period of time, the HD has tried its best to have 22 new filtering facilities installed, hoping that by quickly providing an effective, multi-layered protective filtration system, residents can feel more at ease when consuming the water.
 
To further alleviate public concerns, the WSD will release the test results of water samples on its website every morning.
Issued at HKT 23:36

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Home and Youth Affairs Bureau held training seminar for members of District Councils  
​Based on the needs of DC members, the HYAB has been arranging different training sessions and visits to assist DC members in discharging their duties, so as to improve the efficacy of district work and serve the people better. The training seminar today focused on how to enhance communications with the media, and to promote the good practices of building management.
 
​The Under Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Mr Clarence Leung, attended the training seminar and delivered a speech. He said that under the improved district governance system, the DCs, the District Services and Community Care Teams (Care Teams) and other district organisations and groups worked hand-in-hand in serving the people. District work had to be done with the people at heart for it to be effective and efficient. The HYAB and the Home Affairs Department (HAD) had therefore continued to provide various training for DC members. For example, the HAD had arranged for DC members to attend mediation training in batches starting from May. Mr Leung hoped the relevant training could help DC members better discharge their duties, further improve the efficacy of district governance and thereby building a harmonious community together.
 
​​Today’s training seminar had two parts. In the first part, a guest speaker shared with DC members the latest media landscape and skills in engaging with the media. Through strengthening communications with the media, members of the public could better understand DC members’ work under the improved district governance system more effectively through the media, so that DC members could better serve as the bridge between the Government and the people, while telling good stories of the DCs.
 
​Before the second part of the training seminar, the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Miss Alice Mak, addressed DC members, saying that the Government had always placed emphasis on district work. She quoted the Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mr Zhou Ji, that the DCs, “the three district committees” (the Area Committees, the District Fight Crime Committees and the District Fire Safety Committees) and Care Teams are the troika after improvements to district governance, and reminded DC members to strengthen collaboration with “the three district committees” and Care Teams, and address and resolve people’s conflicts at early stages. Miss Mak emphasised that building management was one of the key aspects of district work, and encouraged DC members to be familiar with relevant legislation, so as to provide support and assistance to owners and residents in need and facilitate the smooth operation of building management.
 
​Afterwards, in the second part, the guest speaker shared with DC members the relevant information on the Building Management (Amendment) Ordinance 2024 (the Amendment Ordinance), which would come into effect on July 13. As early as December last year, HAD organised two briefing sessions for DC members. In view of the imminent commencement of the Amendment Ordinance, HAD provided training to DC members again on the content and requirements of the Amendment Ordinance, with a view to enabling DC members to provide effective assistance to owners and residents in dealing with building management issues when necessary. The key objectives of the Amendment Ordinance are to enhance the transparency and accountability of the operation of owners’ corporations (OCs), for example, in respect of large-scale maintenance works or high-value procurement, and to provide better protection for members of the management committees (MCs) of OCs. The Amendment Ordinance also includes new provisions relating to the keeping of documents relating to building management and the responsibilities of the MCs in keeping such documents.
Issued at HKT 23:19

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Missing man in Sheung Shui located 
Wong Sum-wah, aged 77, went missing after he was last seen in a shopping mall on Choi Yuen Road in the afternoon on June 2. His family then made a report to Police.

The man was located at the junction of Morrison Street and Des Voeux Road Central in Central tonight (June 5). He sustained no injuries and no suspicious circumstances were detected.
Issued at HKT 23:18

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Convenor of ExCo Non-official Members reviews Hong Kong Customs passing-out parade  
Speaking at the passing-out parade, Mrs Ip said Hong Kong Customs is committed to leveraging Hong Kong’s strategic positioning of enjoying strong support of the motherland and being closely connected to the world under the “one country, two systems” framework to deepen its multilateral co-operation with partners in the A/P region. This not only demonstrates the department’s endeavour to echo the directional principle of “leveraging our unique advantages while reinforcing our connectivity with both the Mainland and the world” as proposed during the “two sessions”, but also serves as a vivid illustration of Hong Kong’s integration into the overall development of the country.Issued at HKT 20:45

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