In our first episode of 2025, with a brand-new format, Regulatory Ramblings highlights two critical developments shaping Asia’s financial and regulatory landscapes.

In Episode 61, Hong Kong-based lawyer Ben Hammond unpacks the city’s upcoming Stablecoin Bill, a landmark regulation aimed at strengthening digital asset oversight while bolstering Hong Kong’s position as a global financial hub. Hammond reflects on the bill’s significance, how it fills regulatory gaps, and its potential to foster legitimacy and confidence in the stablecoin ecosystem. He also explores the broader challenges and opportunities the legislation presents for compliance, cross-border legal practice, and the evolution of digital finance.

Meanwhile, legal expert and political analyst Ross Feingold examines the extraterritorial enforcement of US laws under President-elect Donald Trump’s returning administration. Feingold addresses heightened sanctions, trade policies, and the ripple effects on financial hubs like Hong Kong and Singapore. Topics include escalating compliance costs, the dollar’s role in global trade, and the implications of Trump’s crypto-friendly stance for Asian markets.

With insights ranging from the Stablecoin Bill’s regulatory impact to Trump’s influence on Asia’s financial compliance, this episode provides a timely overview of the challenges and opportunities awaiting the region in 2025.

Our first guest, Ross Feingold, Head of Research at Caerus Consulting, brings extensive expertise in global risk management. A New York and Washington, DC-admitted lawyer, he has served as in-house counsel at Royal Bank of Scotland, Deutsche Bank, and J.P. Morgan. With over 20 years of experience in Asia, including Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taipei, Ross is fluent in Mandarin and has held roles as a lecturer, political analyst, and Asia chairman of Republicans Abroad. He is also a director of the Association of American Residents Overseas. In this episode, Ross discusses the implications of US extraterritorial laws under the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump.

Our second guest, Ben Hammond, managing partner at Ashurst Hong Kong, leads the firm’s financial services regulatory group, specializing in non-contentious regulatory practice. He advises clients on a wide range of regulatory matters, with a focus on digital economy initiatives. Notably, Ben guided Goldman Sachs in 2023 on its tokenization platform, GS DAP™, for issuing the world’s first government-backed tokenized green bond (HK$800 million) for the Hong Kong government. In 2024, he led HSBC’s support to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority on the world’s first multi-currency “digitally native” bond offering, underscoring his expertise in pioneering regulatory frameworks and digital finance innovation.

The Regulatory Ramblings podcast is brought to you by The University of Hong Kong's Reg/Tech Lab (Building Better Financial Systems), HKU-SCF FinTech Academy, Asia Global Institute, and HKU-edX Professional Certificate in FinTech, with support from HKU Law. The program is led by Douglas Arner and hosted by Ajay Shamdasani. For more details and links, please visit: www.hkufintech.com/regulatoryramblings

HKU FinTech is the leading fintech research and education in Asia. Learn more at www.hkufintech.com.

Replay: Ep #59 with Matthew Friedman (The Mekong Club)

Four decades fighting human trafficking and modern slavery – a diplomat reflects

As a former US and United Nations diplomat, Matthew Friedman has been a true warrior on the frontlines against modern slavery and sex trafficking for over four decades. He is an international human trafficking expert and the CEO of The Mekong Club, a non-governmental organization comprised of Hong Kong’s leading businesses which have joined forces to help end all forms of modern slavery.

The Mekong Club is very active in the ESG space and is well versed at identifying red flags and appropriate metrics to gauge anti-human trafficking compliance.

Previously, he worked for United States Agency for International Development and the UN in over 40 countries. Matt offers technical advice to numerous governments, banks and corporations working to eliminate all forms of modern slavery and is the author of fifteen books. In 2017, he won Asia’s prestigious “Communicator of the Year” Gold Award.

His postings have taken him all over Asia from Nepal, Bangladesh, and to Thailand. The Mekong Club works with private sector banks, manufacturers, retailers and the hospitality sectors to do what they need to do in the fight against human trafficking and slavery.

The topic of modern slavery – more colloquially referred to as human trafficking – is a bleak one. In this episode of Regulatory Ramblings, Matt chats with host Ajay Shamdasani on what the global banking and financial institutions and multinational corporations can do about the matter.

The problem indirectly affects us all: estimates are that 50 million people in the world are currently in some form of slavery. Twenty-seven million of them are engaged in forced labor, of which 82% of this figure is associated with supply chains.

The conversation begins with Matt sharing his background and what drew him to the cause of modern slavery. He also stresses that despite the Mekong Club being an NGO, it works with the private sector a great deal, perhaps more so than it does with other NGOs or state bodies. As he notes, there is a greater impetus to take action to effect change in the private sector than in the public sector.

Working with the private sector is an approach that has served Matt and the Club well because as he puts it: “The private sector has a sense of urgency unlike the public sector. If a company does an audit on human trafficking and there is a problem, within fifteen minutes they will call a meeting of all the relevant stakeholders and work to remediate it. The private sector does more than traditional NGOs because they are closer to the action,” he said. He added, NGOs tended to intellectualize matters – often reducing them to purely academic or legal concerns.

Reflecting on his four decades in the field, Matt also recounts what has changed about human trafficking and what has remained the same. As he points out, the evolution of human trafficking is interesting, going from forced manual labor to compelling enslaved persons to undertake more elaborate crimes such as scam farm and ‘pig butchering’ schemes.

The discussion concludes with Matt sharing his views how the financial sector can protect themselves from becoming unwitting participants in human trafficking and the sex trade. There clearly is an intersection between money laundering, financial crime and human trafficking, he says, and it is something the UN Counter-Trafficking program was created to combat.

For more details and links, visit: www.hkufintech.com/regulatoryramblings

HKU FinTech is the leading fintech research and education in Asia. Learn more at www.hkufintech.com.

Episode #60 with Theodora Lau, Unconventional Ventures

Based in the US, Theodora Lau or Theo as she’s known, is Hong Kong born and bred and the founder of Unconventional Ventures. Her firm’s mission is developing and growing an ecosystem of financial institutions, corporations, startups, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and accelerators to make banking better, as well as to meet the often-unmet needs of consumers, including older adults and women. Connecting founders with funders – with a specific focus on underrepresented entrepreneurs is Theo’s mission.

As part of her work, she regularly mentors and advises startups in both the financial services and healthcare/caregiving space. She is an advisor to B21 Ventures which focuses on entrepreneurs disrupting finance and health through artificial intelligence.

Theo has been referred to by the American Banker as one of the “Most Influential Women in FinTech” and is one of few global experts providing authoritative insights on both the US vis a vis Asia.

Besides being a best-selling author, Theo is an accomplished technologist and is much sought after for her unique insights on the success of super apps in Asia, the evolution of AI and the disparity in digital adoption between regions.

Theo regularly speaks on the topics of AI, gender equity, FinTech, inclusion, and longevity. She is a guest contributor for various top industry events, publications, and podcasts, including Fintech Futures, the American Banker, BBC, the Journal of Digital Banking, Harvard Business Review, Nikkei Asia, MIT Tech Review, Money20/20, Finovate, RISE, FinTech Week Hong Kong, Breaking Banks, Irish Tech News and the Forbes Technology Council

She is the co-author of “Beyond Good: How technology is leading a purpose-driven business revolution” and co-author of “The Metaverse Economy” (both books are now available in paperback edition). Theo is also the host of One Vision, a podcast on innovation and fintech, runs a weekly LinkedIn newsletter called FinTech Prose on emerging technologies (such as voice-activated/enabled software and AI), inclusion, longevity, fintech, innovation, and using technology for good. Her monthly column on Fintech Futures explores the intersection of FinTech and humanity.

As for her education, she holds a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in New York, and a Master of Science in project management from George Washington University in Washington, DC.

In this episode of Regulatory Ramblings, Theo discusses the evolving fintech landscape, the digital adoption gap between Asia and the US, and regulatory challenges. She reflects on her journey from growing up in Hong Kong to witnessing the rise of digital finance in the US, noting Asia's diverse fintech ecosystem, driven by tech giants like WeChat and Tencent in China and Japan's conglomerates.

Theo highlights why the US lags in digital payment adoption, with many still using cheques, compared to Hong Kong and countries like the UK and Australia, which are phasing them out. She explains how regulatory complexity and siloed systems in the US hinder progress, contrasting with global efforts like Project Nexus for seamless cross-border payments in Asia.

Addressing financial inclusion, Theo critiques overpromises by tech creators, noting 4.2% of US households remain unbanked. She emphasizes that tech adoption, not innovation, is the bigger challenge, with banks and regulators often slow to adapt. The conversation also covers the potential of AI and generative tools to drive inclusion globally, along with liability and competency concerns.

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HKU FinTech is the leading fintech research and education in Asia. Learn more at www.hkufintech.com.