Hong Kong - Financial Services & Fintech

Financial Services & Fintech

This is a best prospect industry sector for this country. Includes a market overview and trade data.

Last published date: 2023-01-30

Financial Services

Overview

Table: Total Market Size of Financial Services
	2019	2020	2021	2022 (estimated)
Total Exports	21,681	21,604	21,247	20,896
Total Imports	6,4812	7,174	7,702	8,268
Imports from the U.S.	967	984	1,017	1,051
Exports to the U.S.	3,471	3,363	3,334	3,306

Units: USD million

Data Source: Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong SAR Government

The financial services sector remains one of Hong Kong’s most important economic pillars and accounts for 21.3 percent of the city’s GDP. According to Invest Hong Kong, 78 of the world’s top 100 banks call Hong Kong home. With over 163 licensed banks and 8 virtual banks Hong Kong ha large financial infrastructure. There is no control over capital movement, no capital gains and tax on dividends. Hong Kong hosts the largest pool of RMB liquidity outside Mainland China. Hong Kong serves as a springboard for foreign firms seeking access to Mainland China and for Mainland companies going global.

Leading Sub-Sectors

Sustainable and Green Finance: In 2021, Hong Kong’s sustainable finance market diversified and reached a new high, from US$ 38 billion in green debt issuance in 2020 to US$ 57 billion by the end of 2021. In 2021, one third of Asia’s international sustainable bond issuances were arranged in Hong Kong, making it the leader in Asia. Transition finance is also growing rapidly and there is record diversification of issuers, use of proceeds, and product type, especially a rise in sustainability-linked loans.

The Hong Kong Government and Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEx) Prioritize Developing Sustainable Finace and Carbon Trading: The Hong Kong Government has its own Green Bond Program and subsidies for private issuers. The HKG and HKEx also mandate compliance with the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework, and fund manager codes require disclosure of climate-related risks. The HKG is also enhancing corporate disclosures requirements, developing systems to monitor ESG funds, and identifying a regulatory framework for carbon markets. HKG and HKEx leaders have announced plans to implement the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) standards.

ESG Talent and Technical Solutions: As companies race to set more ambitious climate commitments and develop plans to reach them, there is a growing demand for ESG talent and consulting services. There is also growing demand for tools to monitor emissions, analyze and share ESG data, and predict future ESG performance. Additionally, financial institutions are increasingly seeking tools and services to compare and verify ESG reporting.

Resources

Sustainable and Green Exchange (STAGE) at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange

ESG Academy at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange

Hong Kong Green Finance Association (HKGFA)

Asia Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association (ASIFMA)

Hong Kong Monetary Authority Centre for Green and Sustainable Finance

Events

ReThink Hong Kong /

Date: September 14-15, 2023, Hong Kong

Fintech

Overview

Fintech: Hong Kong is an advanced city with high penetration of mobile phone usage and internet accessibility, which provides a good platform for Hong Kong’s fintech ecosystem. According to Invest Hong Kong, there are over 600 fintech companies and 3,700 startups operating in Hong Kong. It is home to over 10 unicorn companies. In addition, Hong Kong has one of the highest consumers fintech adoption rates of 67 percent in the world, which is significantly above countries including France, the United States, and Japan. Hong Kong also has a high business to business adoption rate of fintech with 66 percent of fintech companies focusing on the B2B market. The city was ranked in the top 5 among the world’s developed markets for consumer fintech adoption. Over US$1.1 billion of venture capital has been raised by Hong Kong fintech companies since 2014. Some of the best fintech prospects in Hong Kong include digital payments, securities settlement, electronic Know Your Customer (KYC) and digital identification utilities, wealthtech, insurtech, data analytics, blockchain, and regtech.

The Hong Kong government aims to push Hong Kong’s status as a financial center, with fintech as a key subsector. In June 2021, The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) rolled out the “Fintech 2025” strategy for driving fintech development in Hong Kong. The Chief Executive of Hong Kong Monetary Authority highlighted the following five focus areas of the strategy which aims to encourage the financial sector to adopt technology comprehensively by 2025, as well as to promote the provision of fair and efficient financial services for the benefit of Hong Kong citizens and the Economy:

Fintech Adoption in Banking

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) will promote the all-round adoption of fintech by Hong Kong banks and encourage them to fully digitalize their operations, from front-end to back-end. To take this forward, the HKMA will roll-out a Tech Baseline Assessment to take stock of banks’ current and planned adoption of fintech in the coming years and to identify fintech business areas or specific technology types which may be underdeveloped and would benefit from the HKMA’s support.

Expanding the fintech-savvy workforce

To increase the supply of fintech talent, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority aims to collaborate with various strategic partners to groom fintech talent, both students and practitioners, through various initiatives, including developing fintech-specific training programs and qualifications, as well as promoting joint projects between the industry and the academia.

Nurturing the ecosystem with funding and policies

A new Fintech Cross-Agency Coordination Group will be established by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and various industry key players to formulate supportive policies for the Hong Kong fintech ecosystem. HKMA will also enhance its Fintech Supervisory Sandbox and is exploring with the Innovation and Technology Commission the possibility of providing funding support to qualified fintech projects.

Data Source: Hong Kong Monetary Authority and Invest Hong Kong

Each year the U.S. Commercial Service in Hong Kong attends two annual flagship finance and fintech events: Hong Kong Fintech Week and the Asian Financial Forum. These two events provide a great opportunity for U.S. fintech companies to network with key leaders in Hong Kong and in many other countries.

Wealth and Asset Management: The Wealth Management Connect program is a recently announced government-led initiative between Hong Kong, Macau, and the nine provincial cities in Guangdong known collectively as the Greater Bay Area (GBA). The program allows mainland Chinese investors domiciled in the GBA to invest in approved wealth management products in Hong Kong and Macau and allows foreign investors to tap financial products sold in China via the two cities. The Wealth Management Connect initiative gives Hong Kong’s asset managers access to a market of 70 million people, 10 times the size of Hong Kong. Major financial institutions are actively growing their workforce to support the anticipated growth in this area.

Invest Hong, the Hong Kong Government’s inbound investment office has created a Global Fast Track (GFT) program, a free one-stop support landing program to support fintech companies entering Hong Kong or the South China market. In 2021, GFT had more than 400 fintech companies and more than 90 corporate and investor champions. For more information, visit https://www.globalfasttrack.hk/.