Banks set to prosper as Hong Kong regains top hub status with family office, fintech push

Name: SCMP
Telephone: +852-2680-8888

Hong Kong’s efforts to regain its top hub status will prosper lenders as opportunities abound in wealth and fintech sectors and the bay area

Reading Time:2 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

Panelists at the Hong Kong Institute of Bankers conference on September 27, 2024. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Aileen Chuang

Published: 6:41pm, 27 Sep 2024

Banks in Hong Kong are poised to profit from bigger opportunities in wealth management and fintech, as well as in the Greater Bay Area, amid measures that helped the city regain its stature as Asia’s top financial hub.

The government has poured resources to attract global family offices and wealthy individuals to set up bases in Hong Kong over the past two years, while also looking to entrench its role as the regional hub for sustainable finance, a top finance official said. These efforts have restored Hong Kong’s standing.

The ranking “shows our efforts and measures to promote the development of our financial services sector are in the right direction and clearly bearing fruit”, Acting Financial Secretary Michael Wong Wai-lun said at a banking conference on Friday. They created vast opportunities in the financial services industry, he added.

Hong Kong ranked third globally, after New York and London, in the latest edition of Global Financial Centres Index. It toppled Singapore to be Asia’s best again after losing the title in September 2022 amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The city ranked highly from business environment to fintech and wealth management.

Panellists at the Hong Kong Institute of Bankers’ annual conference on September 28, 2024. Photo: Jonathan Wong

The Capital Investment Entrant Scheme, revamped in March as part of its family-office promotion, has received more than 550 applications, Wong said at the Hong Kong Institute of Bankers’ annual conference on Friday. It could bring in HK$16.5 billion (US$2.1 billion) in investments, while also enriching the local talent pool, he added.

Last year, the city had HK$31 trillion in investment assets under management, while net fund inflows jumped 3.4 times to about HK$390 billion from 2022.