Julia Leung speaks in Switzerland

November 08, 2011

Under Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury Julia Leung outlined Hong Kong’s unique position as China’s global financial centre, and explained the opportunities that come with such a position, to an audience of financial professionals in Zurich yesterday.
 
Ms Leung was speaking to more than 100 senior financial services executives at the opening of the Hong Kong: China’s Global Financial Centre conference.
 
“This is an exciting time for Hong Kong as we witness the birth of an international currency and the breathtaking growth of an offshore market akin to the Eurodollar market in London in the 1960s. Hong Kong’s ambitions as an international asset-management centre are paralleled by our aspirations as an offshore renminbi centre and IPO centre. These three form the pillars we are building on to develop Hong Kong as an international financial centre,” she said.
 
“China’s vision to internationalise the renminbi is bold. Its implications on the international currency reserves system will be profound.”
 
Ms Leung also shared her views on the opportunities for the private banking business in Hong Kong. She noted Hong Kong provides easy access to the large and concentrated group of high net worth individuals from Mainland China.
 
The latest Securities & Futures Commission survey showed Hong Kong’s fund-management business managed a total of US$1.3 trillion in 2010, up 18.6% from a year earlier.
 
Two-thirds of those assets managed in Hong Kong were sourced from non-Hong Kong investors and about 60% of these assets were invested in Hong Kong and China, with the bulk of the remainder in the rest of Asia.