On 2 November 2026, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced the launch of Project SAGE (Securing Agentic Finance with Governance and Enablement) to support the responsible development and adoption of agentic finance in Hong Kong. An Agentic Finance Expert Group, comprising financial institutions, technology service providers, professional service firms and academics, has been established to support the project's work.
Project SAGE focuses on four areas: market development and use case exploration, spanning business-to-consumer, business-to-business (such as procurement and treasury management) and machine-to-machine payments; agent identity, exploring approaches to verifying A.I. agents' identities and delegated authority, including Know Your Agent (KYA) practices; interoperability standards; and legal and regulatory frameworks covering governance arrangements, liability and consumer protection.
The HKMA also issued a discussion paper the same day, seeking industry views on regulatory principles for banks' use of A.I. agents, including bank-wide governance arrangements, the allocation of liability, and whether a central register of trusted agents and a KYA standard should be introduced.
For companies, agentic finance points to a future in which procurement, payments and treasury management may be executed by A.I. agents within delegated authority. Because this involves movement of funds and boundaries of authorisation, businesses will need clear mandates, audit trails and internal controls; as banks develop requirements for identifying agents, compliance around corporate banking services and even account opening may evolve accordingly.
These measures remain at an exploratory stage with no immediate mandatory requirements. Companies interested in piloting A.I. agents for payments or treasury should test in controlled environments first, define authorisation and accountability clearly, and monitor the HKMA's subsequent consultation outcomes and formal guidance.