Exclusive | AI, geopolitics, climate risk and private credit on bankers’ minds at HKMA’s global summit

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‘We want to discuss how to navigate these changes and build resilience within the institutions to withstand any shocks,’ HKMA’s Eddie Yue says

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Summit for 300 financial chiefs will refresh views of Hong Kong, says HKMA CEO Eddie Yue

Enoch YiuandAileen Chuang

Published: 7:30am, 22 Oct 2024Updated: 12:18pm, 22 Oct 2024

A potent mix of risks, from geopolitical tension to technology disruptions and climate change, is roiling global financial markets, according to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). These issues have increased the need for stronger prudential management to protect market stability.

“Sailing through changes” – the theme for next month’s Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit organised by the city’s de facto central bank – will offer the time and venue for banks and money managers to reflect on the upheavals, after overcoming the shocks from the Covid-19 pandemic, CEO Eddie Yue Wai-man said.

“There are loads of different changes on the global level,” he said in an interview with the Post. “We want to discuss how to navigate these changes and build resilience within the institutions to withstand any shocks. We are seeing geopolitics evolving everywhere, whether about elections or the military conflicts.”

The HKMA will host the full-capacity summit from November 18 to 20 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Wan Chai. Hong Kong’s status as a financial hub and a bridge to China’s markets remains attractive as 300 top executives, including the CEOs of HSBC, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, have confirmed their attendance.

China last month discarded its “slow-drip” approach to revive its economy, delivering a stimulus bazooka to rescue the nation’s stock and property markets. The U-turn fuelled Chinese asset prices but stunned investors, many of whom have shunned China on policy inertia.

The Chinese government’s about-turn came a week after the Federal Reserve cut its target rate on September 18. It was the first Fed easing move to end a hawkish, tightening drive that began with the “lift-off” in March 2022. Many economists are projecting the Fed to keep cutting in each of its next six meetings up to June next year.