HKMA launches Project SAGE, establishes Agentic Finance Expert Group

BlockBeats news, November 2 — According to an announcement from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the HKMA today announced the launch of Project SAGE, short for Securing Agentic Finance with Governance and Enablement, which aims to promote the responsible development and application of agentic finance in Hong Kong, and simultaneously established an Agentic Finance Expert Group to gather industry input.

The HKMA noted that as agentic artificial intelligence technology matures, the financial industry, while advancing internal adoption, is further exploring how AI agents can make financial services more efficient and secure. Project SAGE will focus on four main areas: first, market development and exploration of application scenarios, supporting market participants in validating solutions, with potential directions including business-to-consumer (B2C) agentic shopping and everyday payments, business-to-business (B2B) procurement and treasury management, and machine-to-machine (M2M) usage-based payments for digital services; second, agent identity, exploring methods to verify the identity and authorized permissions of AI agents, including "Know Your Agent (KYA)" measures and identity authentication mechanisms; third, interoperability standards, promoting industry discussion on relevant standards and protocols to support secure and smooth interaction within the ecosystem; fourth, legal and regulatory frameworks, exchanging views on issues such as governance arrangements, legal liability, and consumer protection.

To gather professional knowledge and perspectives, the HKMA established the Agentic Finance Expert Group to support Project SAGE, with members including stakeholders from financial institutions, technology service providers, professional service firms, and academia. HKMA Chief Executive Eddie Yue said that agentic finance has the potential to reshape how financial services are provided and used, and expressed the hope that through a series of measures and by promoting exchanges with industry experts, Hong Kong can drive innovation while consolidating its leading position in the next generation of fintech, ensuring that agentic finance serves users' best interests and maintains financial system stability.