Hong Kong Wants Stronger Swiss Financial Sector Ties - Report

Editorial Staff

7 November 2018

Hong Kong will strengthen financial cooperation with Switzerland to maintain its status as Asia’s largest wealth management hub, a senior official in the Asian jurisdiction reportedly has said.

James Henry Lau Jr, secretary for financial services and the treasury in Hong Kong, has said policymakers and financial sector practitioners have common ground over wealth management. He was quoted from his weekly blog by the China Daily publication. Lau has been on a short business trip to Germany and Switzerland.

The article did not spell out specific policy actions that might be involved in forging closer Swiss bonds with Hong Kong.

Switzerland, despite the demise internationally of its bank secrecy laws, is home to a total of SFr6.65 trillion of assets, with about half of that coming from abroad, making it the world's largest financial centre, and compared to $1.1 trillion in such assets in Hong Kong.

On the flipside, the article noted that Hong Kong's compound annual growth rate for private wealth management business (2012-2017) is 11 per cent, far ahead of Switzerland's 3 per cent, with Hong Kong lifted by the rising tide of Asia's wealth.

Lau said several Swiss institutions have expressed interest in listing or setting up branches in Hong Kong, the article quoted him as saying.