Jan 14, 2026
The Financial Services and Treasury Bureau ("FSTB") has recently issue a Consultation Paper on the Implementation of Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework and Amendments in relation to Common Reporting Standard in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong has long been supportive of international efforts to enhance tax transparency and combat cross-border tax evasion. Since 2018, Hong Kong has been exchanging financial account information automatically with partner jurisdictions on an annual basis in accordance with the CRS developed by the OECD, which enables the relevant tax authorities to utilise such information for tax assessments, as well as for detecting and combating tax evasion.
New initiatives on automatic exchange of information in tax matters (“AEOI”)
AEOI is an international tax co-operation initiative advocated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (“OECD”) to enhance international tax transparency and combat cross-border tax evasion. CRS was developed by OECD in 2014 to underpin the implementation of AEOI.
With the constantly evolving financial markets giving rise to new investment and payment practices in the digital asset sector, OECD has developed CARF and amendments to CRS (“amended CRS”) in 2023, which collectively represent the prevailing international standards for AEOI. As a new tax transparency framework, CARF provides for the automatic exchange of tax information on transactions in crypto-assets in a standardised manner with the jurisdictions of residence of taxpayers. The amended CRS covers digital financial products and provides for enhanced CRS reporting and due diligence requirements.
As announced in the 2025 Policy Address, the Government will introduce legislative proposals into the Legislative Council (“LegCo”) in 2026, with the target of achieving automatic exchange of CARF information with partner jurisdictions on a reciprocal basis starting from 2028. The Government also plans to implement the amended CRS starting from 2029.
Strengthening the administrative framework for CRS
Separately, OECD has been conducting the second round of peer review on the effectiveness of Hong Kong’s existing administrative framework for CRS since 2024. OECD considered that Hong Kong should strengthen the identification of reporting financial institutions (“RFI”) under CRS and enhance the penalty scale and enforcement mechanism to ensure deterrence. To address OECD’s comments, the FSTB proposes to amend the relevant provisions in IRO to, among other things, introduce a mandatory registration requirement for RFIs and optimise the penalty and enforcement regimes of CRS.
In addition, since 2024, the OECD has been conducting the second round of a peer review on the effectiveness of Hong Kong's administrative framework for implementing the CRS. Having taken into consideration the OECD's views, the Government proposes, through amendments to the Ordinance, to introduce mandatory registration for financial institutions to enhance identification, as well as to raise the penalty levels and enhance the enforcement mechanism, in order to maintain a favourable rating in the OECD's peer reviews and maintain Hong Kong's reputation as an international financial and commercial centre.
Public consultation
A two-month consultation exercise has been launched by the Government since 9 December 2025. You are invited to share send in your comments on the consultation by e-mail (carf@fstb.gov.hk) or by post (24/F, Central Government Offices, 2 Tim Mei Avenue, Tamar, Hong Kong). The consultation exercise will end on 6 February 2026.