Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance advises HSBC on the launch of market-first digital gold token for Hong Kong retail investors

Global law firm Clifford Chance has advised HSBC on the structuring, documentation, and regulatory approval process for the launch of a market-first digital gold token product available to retail investors in Hong Kong.

The product represents the first tokenised real-world asset issued by a bank for retail investors and leverages distributed ledger technology (DLT). This innovation enables enhancement to liquidity and market accessibility of an asset traditionally perceived as less liquid with higher investment barriers.

Partners Rocky Mui and Terry Yang co-led a team of lawyers from the Hong Kong office including counsel Andre Da Roza, Foreign Legal Counsel Lin Lu, associates Greg Chan and Winni Choi.

Partner Rocky Mui said, "This represents an important milestone in the development of asset tokenisation for Hong Kong, and we expect to see continued growth in this area, particularly for the APAC region. We are proud to be working with HSBC's team of product, technology and legal experts on this innovative product."

This project extends Clifford Chance's established track record of advising on pioneering digital asset transactions. Notable matters include advising on HSBC's appointment as the sole settlement bank in Hong Kong for FPS and Thailand's PromptPay QR payment programme, Singapore's first industry pilot for cross-currency transactions on tokenised deposits, and the launch of the first bitcoin spot ETFs in the US for VanEck.