Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services Bite-Sized Issue 7 2025

8 QUICK LINKS AIFMD CSDR ELIGIBLE ASSETS DIRECTIVE EMIR FINTECH FSB MIFID II/MIFIR SUSTAINABLE FINANCE/ESG VIRTUAL ASSETS ASIA PACIFIC EUROPE NORTH AMERICA UNITED KINGDOM Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services Bite-Sized | Issue 7 | 2025 In general, MAS says that it observed that a majority of VCCs and VCC managers met the key regulatory requirements. However, MAS goes on to say that the survey responses also suggested potential areas where certain VCCs and/or VCC managers may not be fully adhering to regulatory requirements. These areas were: • Custody Arrangements; • Appointment of VCC Manager and Director; • Substantive Fund Management Activity; and • Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT). Based on the survey findings, MAS says that it is conducting supervisory reviews of specific managers and engaging these managers further to determine whether supervisory interventions or regulatory actions are warranted. MAS expects all VCC managers to review their management of VCCs against the observations set out in its Circular and take appropriate steps to address any gaps in compliance. MAS also says that a VCCmanager retains overall responsibility for the fundmanagement duties of the VCCs under its management and should ensure that its duties as manager are effectively discharged. Link to MAS Homepage here SFC Publish Annual Report for 2024-25 On 25 June 2025, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) released its Annual Report 2024- 25, stating that vibrant market innovation and enhanced global connectivity fuelled notable strides for Hong Kong’s capital markets over the past year with an upturn in fund-raising and trading activities. The SFC says that Hong Kong has been fast evolving into a future-ready financial hub through accelerated developments in virtual assets and securities tokenisation over the past year. Meanwhile, on the back of reformmeasures introduced in the recent year, rebounds in IPOs and secondary market trading have catapulted Hong Kong into the world’s top fund-raising platform. The SFC also says that ties with the Mainland and international markets have also been strengthened as well amidst a complex global landscape. On the innovation front, the SFC authorised the Asia-Pacific’s first batch of three tokenised money market funds for retail access last quarter, marking a step forward in scaling the tokenisationmarket. To develop Hong Kong’s virtual asset (VA) ecosystem under the “ASPIRe” roadmap issued earlier this year, the SFC says that it has subsequently allowed two VA ETFs to engage in staking, marking Asia-Pacific’s first such ETFs. Meanwhile, the total market capitalisation of six Hong Kong-listed VA spot ETFs had surged 95% and daily turnover risen 16% since their debut last April. For VA trading platforms, the SFC has licensed a total of 11. The SFC states that Hong Kong’s role as Asia’s premier capital intermediary was also reinforced through new ties with the Middle East. The two Hong Kong ETFs cross-listed on the Saudi Exchange are the largest ETFs there, with a market capitalisation of HKD14.5 billion as of May. For Asia’s first Saudi ETF listed in Hong Kong since late 2023, its feeder ETFs cross-listed on Mainland exchanges since mid-2024 now contribute 17% to the master ETF’s market capitalisation. For Mainland-Hong Kong connectivity, the SFC says that cumulative southbound inflows of the Stock Connect scheme surpassed $4.35 trillion as of May. The share of southbound trading also increased to 22.5% of Hong Kong’s market turnover. Link to SFC Annual Report 2024-25 here