Govt takes 'pragmatic' attitude on property market: FS
Financial Secretary Paul Chan on Wednesday said that the conditions of the housing market nowadays are different from when property cooling measures were introduced more than a decade ago.  The cooling measures were rolled out at a time when housing supply was relatively tight and there was a need to rein in demand for property speculation and investments, the finance chief said, after being asked if authorities would ease such curbs.  "We could see that the current property market situation is different from when we introduced property cooling measures," Chan told reporters upon returning from a visit to Europe.  "Different property management measures have their own purposes, and in specific scenarios, have their roles. We are adopting a pragmatic attitude and continuing our review."  Chan also made his first response over suspected fraud involving the unlicensed cryptocurrency platform JPEX, saying there is a need to regulate businesses related to Web 3.0 and stamp out any suspected illegal activities.  But he noted that the blockchain technology is "here to stay" and people should embrace financial innovations.  "It is important to take note of the risks associated with doing transactions on non-licensed platform...The government will continue to impose balanced regulation, to put in balanced, proper regulatory framework to protect investors' interest, as well as protecting financial stability," he said. Police said more than 2,400 people have now reported losses totalling around HK$1.5 billion involving JPEX. Fifteen arrests have been made so far.