Greater Bay Area offers huge opportunity for Hong Kong’s fund industry, says EYHong Kong Investment Fund Association wants Chinese regulator to shorten approval process for Mutual Recognition of Fund Scheme
The Hong Kong Investment Fund Association, which represents the Hong Kong businesses of international fund houses managing US$1.2 trillion in assets worldwide, will on Monday urge Beijing to ease restrictions on sale of cross-border funds after a scheme launched in 2015 failed to take off.
The industry body has worked with multinational professional services firm EY on a range of proposals to be submitted on Monday, the top priority being that the China Securities Regulatory Commission lift some restrictions in exchange for Hong Kong funds being sold only in the region covered by the “Greater Bay Area” initiative instead of the whole country. The association also wants the commission to shorten its approval process for the Mutual Recognition of Fund Scheme, the cross-border fund sales scheme launched in 2015, to six months from three years.
“The Hong Kong retail fund market is limited by its small population. The Greater Bay Area has a population of 70 million, which is 10 times that of Hong Kong’s… it offers a huge expansion opportunity for the Hong Kong fund industry,” Christine Lin, partner, financial services at EY, said in an interview.
The association also wants Beijing to allow overseas managers to directly sell their products in the region.
