City’s financial ecosystem is ‘robust and resilient’
Numbers do not lie, and the Hong Kong market has shown resilience and competence through years of economic headwinds, the city’s financial regulators told the HSBC Global Investment Summit yesterday.
“Hong Kong has gone through a lot of challenges in recent years, but we’ve proven our resilience,” Eddie Yue Wai-man, CEO of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), said during a fireside chat.
The market’s credibility and competence was illustrated by the cumulative 21 per cent gain in deposits in the past five years, he said.
“You may still hear noises or perceptions … [that] Hong Kong’s growth as a financial centre is fading,” Yue said. “But if you look at the numbers, they paint for you a very different story.
“Look at the facts. Hong Kong’s ecosystem is robust.”
More than 2,500 market professionals and 300 corporate executives have gathered in the city to discuss issues affecting the industry and the world.
“The fact that HSBC has hosted this landmark summit demonstrates its belief that Hong Kong is a dynamic hub for capital, business and opportunity,” Julia Leung Fung-yee, CEO of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), said in her keynote address. “The city has not wavered.
“Despite challenges that have continued to come our way, our free economy, robust financial markets, regulation, rule of law and confidence of having all of you here today allow us to play the long game, even during the past crisis.”
The number of hedge fund managers, private equity fund managers and family offices in Hong Kong had increased by 24 per cent over the past three years, Leung added.
The SFC said it would continue to support competitiveness by enhancing market liquidity and efficiency.
The city also stood to gain from opportunities in the Middle East, Wilfred Yiu, head of markets at Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, told a panel.
Countries in the Middle East were looking to diversify their economies and this transition would require capital, human resources and participation from different sectors, he said.
“The job for all of us is how [to] bridge capital and opportunity better together and leverage Hong Kong as the hub for connecting capital on the mainland with the rest of the Middle East,” Yiu said.