Hong Kong regulator mulls academy of finance
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is studying the idea of establishing an academy of finance (AoF) in Hong Kong.
The financial secretary, Paul Chan, announced today (28 February) in the 2018-19 budget that he has tasked the HKMA to look at this.
The HKMA has commissioned an “Experts Group “to study the feasibility of this proposition. Members include former and present chairmen of the Securities and Futures Commission, chairman of the Insurance Authority and a former HSBC chairman.
Norman Chan, chief executive of the HKMA, says competition among international financial centres is “always fierce” in Asia and the “ability to expand and upgrade one’s professional talent pool and enhance soft power in a sustainable manner will differentiate the true winners”.
It won’t be a surprise, but the initial view of the Experts Group is that it “seems feasible” to establish an AoF in Hong Kong as a “centre of excellence for financial services by bringing together the strengths of the academia, the industry, professional training institutes and regulatory community to promote financial knowledge transfer, capacity building, and applied research collaboration”.
The Experts Group will complete its study by mid-2018 and submit its recommendations to the HKMA for follow up.
Also published today, the financial services and fintech sectors in Hong Kong got a handy boost of HKD 500 million ($63.9 million) over the next five years.
In the nation’s 2018-2019 budget speech, Chan outlined how the cash will be used in the sector. The amount is not just limited to fintech in its purest form, as there will be help for green finance.
