Three banks approved loans of HK$1 million to HK$39 million on the strength of independent IP valuations. It is a small start, but it changes what counts as collateral in an SME credit file.
On 30 September 2026 the Government announced the first batch of successful cases from the Intellectual Property Financing Sandbox, and the HKMA said the participating banks had completed credit approval for them. Seven pilot cases were approved, for companies in electronics, construction, toy manufacturing and medical devices. The loans range from HK$1 million to HK$39 million and are for working capital, business expansion and promotion.
The three participating banks are Bank of China (Hong Kong), HSBC and Standard Chartered. The cases involve patents and trade marks. With an independent valuation report on the IP, a bank can offer a higher loan amount or better pricing than it would on the company's other credentials alone. The Government also launched a Pilot Patent Valuation Support Scheme on the same day to help with the cost of those valuations.
For SME lending teams, the interesting part is not the volume. It is that an intangible asset now sits in the credit file with a valuation attached, and that valuation is meant to move the limit or the price. That raises practical questions most SME credit processes have not had to answer. Who commissions and reviews the valuation? How is it refreshed during the life of the facility? What happens to the security if the patent lapses, is challenged or the trade mark is not renewed?
Those are the same questions lenders already ask about property and receivables, applied to a new asset class. Recording the valuation, its date, its author and the renewal dates of the underlying rights as tracked items, rather than as a PDF in a folder, is what lets a credit officer see when the support for a limit has weakened.
SME borrowers who have been through a valuation will increasingly arrive with one, and will expect it to count.
Covenant Desk publishes regulatory context for Hong Kong lending operations, not legal advice. Confirm how anything here applies to your licence with your own advisers.