As we look ahead to 2026, banks in Hong Kong find themselves at an important crossroads, balancing day-to-day resilience with the need to innovate and grow in a rapidly changing world. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) provides clear direction for this journey through its latest publication, 2025 Year-end Review and Priorities for 2026, highlighting five priority pillars for 2026:

1. Credit risk and credit flow
2. Operational and technology risks
3. Fintech 2030 
4. Investor protection 
5. Anti-fraud

Through this focused work plan, HKMA aims to safeguard stability while accelerating responsible innovation through leveraging new technologies under the Fintech 2030 roadmap and the DART[1] (Data and Payment, Artificial Intelligence, Resilience, Tokenisation) framework previously introduced end 2025.

Reinforcing this direction, the HKMA’s Strategic Review of Business Models amid Digital Transformation calls on banks to move beyond incremental digitisation, with boards expected to endorse within six months a forward‑looking strategy to rethink core business models, supported by targeted DLT pilots where appropriate.

1. Credit risk and credit flow

HKMA looks to balance between managing credit risk sensibly while maintaining the support to keep the economy moving.

• Remain vigilant to evolving credit landscapes: Monitor asset quality closely and act early and proportionately when early signs of stress start to appear.
• Support real economy including SMEs: Foster and facilitate financing to the real economy, especially SMEs and support business transformation.

Where banks can improve

• Assess and strengthen effectiveness of the current credit risk management framework, particularly on loan classification and provisioning practices and problem loans management, which has been a focus area for HKMA in the recent years.
• Ensure completeness and accuracy of current controls for credit data especially for SME and IP-backed financing.

2. Operational and technology risks

Operational resilience remains a top supervisory theme, as banks complete the “1+3 years” journey and shift from build to “business-as-usual” by end-May 2026.

• Operational resilience: Move towards sustaining “business-as-usual” post-May 2026.
• Cyber resilience: Strengthen cyber resilience across the risk lifecycle through cyber mapping.
• Third-party risk: Implement new international standards for third-party risk management and deepen supervisory engagement on cloud adoption, leveraging a new Practice Guide on Cloud Adoption.

Where banks can improve

• Move from one-off monitoring to continuous operational resilience governance with board approved KRIs triggers and a robust scenario library for business continuity planning.
• Evaluate the adequacy of the current third-party risk framework, including governance over business justifications for third-party engagements and thorough due diligence.

3. Fintech 2030

Under the Fintech 2030 agenda, HKMA will drive a step change in digital capability through the “DART” (Data and Payment, Artificial Intelligence, Resilience, Tokenisation) theme.

• Data and payment: Promote a holistic risk data strategy which moves beyond passive compliance.
• Artificial intelligence: Expand the GenAI Sandbox++, develop finance-specific models and a responsible AI toolkit to guide ethical use of AI.
• Resilience: Introduce fintech cybersecurity baseline and real-time cyber-threat index, as well as a Quantum Preparedness Index to get ahead of future cryptographic risks.
• Tokenisation: Launch a Supervisory Incubator for DLT to support banks to effectively manage the DLT adoption associated risks.

Where banks can improve

• Integrate quantum preparedness and cryptographic risks into technology and risk strategic roadmaps to ensure timely planning against technological developments.
• Formalise responsible AI policies to mitigate AI-specific risks, making it easier to scale AI safely and credibly.
• Partner with technology providers that combine deep domain expertise in wealth management with proven capabilities, aligning with HKMA's push for responsible innovation.

4. Investor protection

HKMA’s reinforced their supervisory stance in investor protection by several workstreams, targeting higher-risk investment products, bank culture and development of the digital asset sector.

• Investment services: Inspect closer on high-yield and complex products and support on sustainable and responsible development of the digital asset sector.
• Bank culture: Continue the emphasis on strengthening a customer-centric culture among frontline staff and introducing cross-sector reference checking to identify and prevent the “bad apples” from moving between organisations.
• Insurance selling: Conduct focused reviews of banks’ insurance referral businesses and oversight of high-risk insurance products to address investment suitability misalignments.

Where banks can improve

• Implement a combination of advanced technology including A.I. and human oversight in post-trade communication surveillance to enhance the reliability of surveillance outcomes.
• Embed culture and incentive alignment, ensuring performance management and remuneration frameworks do not drive mis-selling and incorporate conduct metrics into frontline scorecards.
• Leverage cross-sector referencing checking during hiring processes to ensure that individuals with a history of misconduct are identified early and prevented from moving between institutions unchecked.

5. Anti-fraud

Deception cases and associated losses stayed high despite previous interventions. In 2026, HKMA will intensify its focus on anti-fraud through three levers: Proactive Counter Tactics, Collaboration and Innovation, and Education and Promotion.

• Proactively counter emerging fraud tactics: Enhance scam surveillance, expand the coverage and functionality of Scameter and Suspicious Account Alerts, and tighten customer identify authentication via iAM Smart and other means.
• Education and promotion:  Roll out new consumer facing campaigns, such as a new “E-Banking Security ABCD” online game/quiz, promote use of bank customer empowerment tools and “Money Safe.”
• Collaboration and innovation: Scale collaboration and information-sharing within the anti-fraud ecosystem, including piloting analysis of multi-institutional data for early fraud detection and disruption, and research on behavioural science techniques for anti-scam education.

Where banks can improve

• Enhance the existing anti-fraud position by applying rule-based models to evaluate behaviours against expected profiles, enabling early detection of anomalies and timely escalation for investigation.
• Standardise collaboration and information-sharing guidelines, including participation in industry fraud-intelligence forums and operationalising HKMA led data-sharing pilots for early detection.

We work closely with stakeholders across risk, compliance and the business to build capabilities that are both robust and future-proof. To discuss how Synpulse can help your organisation respond to HKMA’s 2026 priorities, connect to our subject matter expert, Gregory Achache at gregory.achache@synpulse.com or Marina Mai at marina.mai@synpulse.com.

As we look ahead to 2026, banks in Hong Kong find themselves at an important crossroads, balancing day-to-day resilience with the need to innovate and grow in a rapidly changing world. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) provides clear direction for this journey through its latest publication, 2025 Year-end Review and Priorities for 2026, highlighting five priority pillars for 2026:

1. Credit risk and credit flow
2. Operational and technology risks
3. Fintech 2030 
4. Investor protection 
5. Anti-fraud

Through this focused work plan, HKMA aims to safeguard stability while accelerating responsible innovation through leveraging new technologies under the Fintech 2030 roadmap and the DART[1] (Data and Payment, Artificial Intelligence, Resilience, Tokenisation) framework previously introduced end 2025.

Reinforcing this direction, the HKMA’s Strategic Review of Business Models amid Digital Transformation calls on banks to move beyond incremental digitisation, with boards expected to endorse within six months a forward‑looking strategy to rethink core business models, supported by targeted DLT pilots where appropriate.

1. Credit risk and credit flow

HKMA looks to balance between managing credit risk sensibly while maintaining the support to keep the economy moving.

• Remain vigilant to evolving credit landscapes: Monitor asset quality closely and act early and proportionately when early signs of stress start to appear.
• Support real economy including SMEs: Foster and facilitate financing to the real economy, especially SMEs and support business transformation.

Where banks can improve

• Assess and strengthen effectiveness of the current credit risk management framework, particularly on loan classification and provisioning practices and problem loans management, which has been a focus area for HKMA in the recent years.
• Ensure completeness and accuracy of current controls for credit data especially for SME and IP-backed financing.

2. Operational and technology risks

Operational resilience remains a top supervisory theme, as banks complete the “1+3 years” journey and shift from build to “business-as-usual” by end-May 2026.

• Operational resilience: Move towards sustaining “business-as-usual” post-May 2026.
• Cyber resilience: Strengthen cyber resilience across the risk lifecycle through cyber mapping.
• Third-party risk: Implement new international standards for third-party risk management and deepen supervisory engagement on cloud adoption, leveraging a new Practice Guide on Cloud Adoption.

Where banks can improve

• Move from one-off monitoring to continuous operational resilience governance with board approved KRIs triggers and a robust scenario library for business continuity planning.
• Evaluate the adequacy of the current third-party risk framework, including governance over business justifications for third-party engagements and thorough due diligence.

3. Fintech 2030

Under the Fintech 2030 agenda, HKMA will drive a step change in digital capability through the “DART” (Data and Payment, Artificial Intelligence, Resilience, Tokenisation) theme.

• Data and payment: Promote a holistic risk data strategy which moves beyond passive compliance.
• Artificial intelligence: Expand the GenAI Sandbox++, develop finance-specific models and a responsible AI toolkit to guide ethical use of AI.
• Resilience: Introduce fintech cybersecurity baseline and real-time cyber-threat index, as well as a Quantum Preparedness Index to get ahead of future cryptographic risks.
• Tokenisation: Launch a Supervisory Incubator for DLT to support banks to effectively manage the DLT adoption associated risks.

Where banks can improve

• Integrate quantum preparedness and cryptographic risks into technology and risk strategic roadmaps to ensure timely planning against technological developments.
• Formalise responsible AI policies to mitigate AI-specific risks, making it easier to scale AI safely and credibly.
• Partner with technology providers that combine deep domain expertise in wealth management with proven capabilities, aligning with HKMA's push for responsible innovation.

4. Investor protection

HKMA’s reinforced their supervisory stance in investor protection by several workstreams, targeting higher-risk investment products, bank culture and development of the digital asset sector.

• Investment services: Inspect closer on high-yield and complex products and support on sustainable and responsible development of the digital asset sector.
• Bank culture: Continue the emphasis on strengthening a customer-centric culture among frontline staff and introducing cross-sector reference checking to identify and prevent the “bad apples” from moving between organisations.
• Insurance selling: Conduct focused reviews of banks’ insurance referral businesses and oversight of high-risk insurance products to address investment suitability misalignments.

Where banks can improve

• Implement a combination of advanced technology including A.I. and human oversight in post-trade communication surveillance to enhance the reliability of surveillance outcomes.
• Embed culture and incentive alignment, ensuring performance management and remuneration frameworks do not drive mis-selling and incorporate conduct metrics into frontline scorecards.
• Leverage cross-sector referencing checking during hiring processes to ensure that individuals with a history of misconduct are identified early and prevented from moving between institutions unchecked.

5. Anti-fraud

Deception cases and associated losses stayed high despite previous interventions. In 2026, HKMA will intensify its focus on anti-fraud through three levers: Proactive Counter Tactics, Collaboration and Innovation, and Education and Promotion.

• Proactively counter emerging fraud tactics: Enhance scam surveillance, expand the coverage and functionality of Scameter and Suspicious Account Alerts, and tighten customer identify authentication via iAM Smart and other means.
• Education and promotion:  Roll out new consumer facing campaigns, such as a new “E-Banking Security ABCD” online game/quiz, promote use of bank customer empowerment tools and “Money Safe.”
• Collaboration and innovation: Scale collaboration and information-sharing within the anti-fraud ecosystem, including piloting analysis of multi-institutional data for early fraud detection and disruption, and research on behavioural science techniques for anti-scam education.

Where banks can improve

• Enhance the existing anti-fraud position by applying rule-based models to evaluate behaviours against expected profiles, enabling early detection of anomalies and timely escalation for investigation.
• Standardise collaboration and information-sharing guidelines, including participation in industry fraud-intelligence forums and operationalising HKMA led data-sharing pilots for early detection.

We work closely with stakeholders across risk, compliance and the business to build capabilities that are both robust and future-proof. To discuss how Synpulse can help your organisation respond to HKMA’s 2026 priorities, connect to our subject matter expert, Gregory Achache at gregory.achache@synpulse.com or Marina Mai at marina.mai@synpulse.com.