Hong Kong professionals urge easing of OECD CARF/CRS crypto reporting rules
The Hong Kong Securities & Futures Professionals Association (HKSFPA) has formally asked regulators to soften parts of Hong Kong’s implementation of the OECD’s Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) and related Common Reporting Standard (CRS) amendments ahead of the 2028 start of cross-border data exchange. While supporting CARF’s tax-transparency goals, HKSFPA warned the current draft would impose heavy operational, compliance-cost and legal-liability burdens on local Reporting Crypto-Asset Service Providers (RCASPs). Key requests include: a simplified “lite” registration or annual nil-return for RCASPs with no reportable data; caps or clearer limits on per-account penalties for technical or administrative mistakes; removal of indefinite personal liability for former directors of dissolved firms and instead allowing designated licensed third parties to hold post‑dissolution records; and stronger privacy protections for user data. The submission also notes Hong Kong’s broader push to boost its crypto hub credentials (stablecoin licensing under the Stablecoins Ordinance, proposals to allow insurance capital into crypto). For traders, this is primarily a regulatory compliance story: potential easing of rules would lower operating costs and legal risk for Hong Kong exchanges and service providers, which could influence institutional participation and liquidity over time, but it does not directly change token fundamentals or protocols.
Neutral
This development is primarily regulatory and affects compliance costs and legal risk for Hong Kong-based crypto service providers rather than token economics. In the short term, the HKSFPA’s push for lighter duties and clearer liability limits could reduce uncertainty for local exchanges and custodians, which may modestly support trading volumes or market-making activity among Hong Kong venues. However, the proposals do not change protocol-level factors, on-chain metrics, or macro drivers that typically move token prices. Long term, if Hong Kong adopts more business-friendly CARF/CRS implementation, it could encourage greater institutional participation and liquidity in regional venues — a constructive structural factor — but that effect would materialize slowly and depend on final rule specifics. Given these dynamics, the immediate price impact on cryptocurrencies is likely neutral, with a potential modest positive effect on market infrastructure and liquidity if regulatory relief is enacted.