Monaco targets bay area in family office push
Monaco, the wealthy European microstate, is looking to strengthen ties with China and court investment from Asia’s richest, principally via the Greater Bay Area.
With the Mediterranean country approaching 30 years of diplomatic relations with China in 2025, it was pitching itself to Hong Kong and Macau, including making a push for family offices, offering greater networking opportunities for investors, and exploring cultural exchanges, said Frederic Genta, Monaco’s secretary for attractiveness, development and digital transformation.
“We hope we can be a small door to Europe for the Greater Bay Area,” said Genta, who is charged with making Monaco more appealing to prospective investors and residents.
Genta and Monaco’s ambassador to China, MariePascale Boisson, arrived in Macau on Tuesday for a two-day visit to meet senior Macanese government officials and investors.
Genta followed it up with a visit to Hong Kong yesterday for another round of meetings with family offices and prospective investors.
He rejected the idea that Monaco was competing directly with Hong Kong, which is pulling out all the stops to woo family offices, firms that manage the fortunes of the world’s ultra-rich.
Hong Kong has more than 2,700 family offices, according to a recent study by Deloitte, ahead of Singapore, which has around 1,400.
“In a multilateral world, you need several bases,” Genta said.
“I don’t expect tons of people from Hong Kong or Macau to come and live in Monaco, but I hope some who have family offices will establish a second base for Europe in Monaco.”
He added he would be equally supportive of Monegasque banks and residents investing in the Greater Bay Area.
Monaco currently has “more than 40 big family offices”, according to Genta.
The world’s second-smallest country by land area after Vatican City, Monaco is famed for its glitzy tourism sector, the Formula One grand prix, an annual yacht show, and the Monte Carlo Casino.
It is also a haven for the ultrarich, with no income tax, capital gains tax, or inheritance tax, and a robust private banking sector. Just under half of its 37,000 population are millionaires, according to a 2023 Henley & Partners report on the world’s wealthiest cities.
Monaco is rushing to shore up its anti-money-laundering laws amid fears of being downgraded to the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) greylist of moderate-risk countries. It has been on the back foot since late 2022 when a report by Europe’s anti-money-laundering agency found big gaps in its measures to tackle financial crime.
The FATF, an international watchdog dedicated to combating money laundering and terrorist financing, is expected to visit Monaco this summer for further inspection.
While declining to speculate on the outcome, Genta said the principality had done a lot so far to comply with the regulations.
Being on the greylist restricts a country’s ability to participate in global trade and finance, with a 2021 International Monetary Fund study finding this could cause gross domestic product to drop by 7.6 per cent.
Looking eastwards was a shift away from Monaco’s traditional western European investor base into regions where it was not well understood or known, Genta said. The Greater Bay Area is one of three locations it is looking to build ties with, along with Singapore and the Middle East.
Among the sweeteners on offer is potential membership of Monaco Private Label, an invitation-only network launched for leading investors in the principality. Created in 2009 to attract a super global elite, the principality currently has around 2,000 members from 60 countries.