Hong Kong’s securities regulator is considering the criteria for licensed corporations to participate in the Cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect Pilot Scheme in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area for extending the scope of participating institutions to include eligible securities firms.

Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui Ching-yu said this in the Legislative Council on Wednesday while replying to a related query. 

Launched in September 2021, the Cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area enables residents in 11 GBA cities to carry out cross-boundary investment in eligible wealth management products distributed by banks in the GBA. 

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Pointing out that the cross-boundary WMC has seen steady development since its launch, Hui said at the LegCo that 24 eligible Hong Kong banks have commenced relevant businesses with their respective partner banks in the Chinese mainland.

Total 62,900 individual investors in the GBA participated in cross-boundary WMC as of end-October, including 44,600 from Hong Kong and Macao and 18,300 from the mainland, recording a total of more than 35,000 cross-boundary fund remittances amounting to over RMB8.65 billion, according to the People's Bank of China.

Cross-boundary WMC has seen steady development since its launch.

Christopher Hui, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, HKSAR

“As of end-October, mainland investment products held by Hong Kong and Macao investors under cross-boundary WMC stood at around RMB227 million, including wealth management products at around RMB152 million and funds at around RMB75 million,” said the secretary, adding that investment products of Hong Kong and Macao held by mainland investors stood at around RMB2.351 billion.

On Sept 28, the financial regulatory authorities of the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macao announced that they would enhance cross-boundary WMC along five directions. These are: refining the eligibility criteria of investors to support more GBA residents to participate in the scheme, extending the scope of participating institutions to include eligible securities firms, expanding the scope of eligible investment products, increasing the individual investor quota as appropriate, and further enhancing the promotion and sales arrangements.

“The Securities and Futures Commission is considering the criteria for licensed corporations to participate in the pilot scheme, including their license requirements, capital size, experience, and transaction volume of selling investment products (bonds and funds), internal systems and supervision arrangements, etc,” said Hui.

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The regulatory authorities of the three places are refining the implementation arrangements and operational guidance with a view to announcing relevant details and launching the measures as soon as practicable, he said.

“We believe that the enhancement measures will further enrich the investment options of GBA residents and promote mutual access of the financial markets of the three places conducive to the industry's exploration of business opportunities in the GBA, further realizing the potential of Cross-boundary WMC while enhancing Hong Kong's position as an international asset management center,” he added.